Story and Photos by Crystal Hayduk
Students and their families filled the halls of Beach Middle School (BMS) on March 9 for the 2023 Creative Expression Exhibition evening.
Art teacher Kim Eder said, “The exhibition shows off the artistic and creative work middle school students are doing in art, technology, and music classes.”
Last year, a similar event was held following the renovation of the art and technology departments. This year, the program was expanded to include all the elective classes in which students express their creative sides.
Teachers who collaborated for the exhibition include Eder, Brian Boos (technology), Katy Steklac (Jazz Band), Nathan Peters (Fiddle Club), and Aaron Pollard (choir).
Eder said art students especially enjoy working with clay. This year, seventh graders worked together in groups of three to five to make a set of ceramic windchimes to give away. Each eighth grader made two ceramic pieces—one to keep and one to give away to an area business.
The projects students complete in art, technology, and music help them to build the skills of the Portrait of a Graduate, said Eder. Through elective coursework, students develop competency in communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking (the primary skills students should be proficient in by graduation).
One parent said she was amazed at the students’ creativity and the quality of the work exhibited. An elementary student, who was attending to hear his older sister play the violin with the Fiddle Club, said, “There are a lot of fun things here to see and do.”
Eder said the students’ work displayed at the exhibition was made possible by grants from the Chelsea Education Foundation.
