Merchants Join Kids in Greetings
HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES. Thundery . Dcmbr 22. 1966 -4
1 vmvmmwiMiwimvMVM0'amvM
Art Students' Drawings Give Their Version
Of Christmas; Teacher Explains Background
V
by terry uncecum
Ait Toachor, Hoppnvr Schools
As yon read nr glance through
IIiIh ( lill.slm.it edition, yuu will
notice thai a nrw expression of
Christmas Is evident.
Manv of this vNir'i greetings
were drawn by I ltipnrt school
children grade "in1 through
twelve. Mv 'ily regret In Unit
tin! each and every one of their
lilcluri'N could In- used, In-,
cause they are nil delightful. Be
fore anyone can rt'iilly n)ov
these pictures, children's art
and creative growth first must
in' more clearly uhiIitsIimmI.
There ore definite ordered
stages In a person's growth unit
mnlurliv pattern, ami likewise
there are definite unliTi'il stag
cs In a person' creative growth.
Just as a baby crawls before
walking, anil walks before run
Mint;, so must each person pass
through seven different stages
In creative awareness. These
stages ur the following: Scrlb
hit (two to four ycurs), I'resche
matte I four to seven years),
St hematic (seven to nine years I,
dawning realism (nine to elev
en years), I'scudo Naturullstle
i eleven to thirteen years), anil
Crisis of Ailolesivnre i thirteen
to seventeen years). I realize
(hut the stages 1 have men
lioneil ahove may not hold
much meaning nt the moment,
hut I will explain them hrleflv
.is I ileal Willi eai'h ngc group.
First. I woulil like to explain
how they drew these Christmas
pictures. My art students start
id preparing these pictures for
uur enlovment around the fust
f November. We talked about
Christinas and tried to name us
many thine as we could about
Die first Christmas and our eel
i hr.itlon of It today. From the
list that each croup made, each
student then chose and drew
right different aspects of the
holiday. Kiich person chose one
of his drawings to send to the
lleppner Ga.etteTlnies. which
in turn would he shown to the
local merchants for their selec
tion as a Christmas greeting.
Fnch student spent a groat
liiil of time drawing ana re
drawing his picture so he could
execute It on the final pner
without making a single mis
take before the flnnl drawings
were turned over to the news
paper. This Is true not' only of
the high school students but al
so of the first graders.
The majority of the first and
second graders have started to
enter the creative stage of Sche
matic drawing. They are now
forming definite concepts of
man and his environment. In
pure .schematic the child doesn't
express Intentional experiences
only the Christmas tree, star,
Santa Claus, Baby Jesus. But by
exaggerating Important parts of
his picture and omitting other
parts, the students' experiences
are expressed.
The third graders are entering
into the stiige of Dawning Re
alism which the fourth and
f if tit graders occupy. It Is now
that the students become aware
of detail and emphasis of it.
Santa Claus now has buttons
on his jacket and boots to wear.
It Is also at this time that the
delightful X-rav vision exists. A
house Is drawn but everything
inside the house Christmas,
tree, Santa Claus, and fireplace
Is also shown, and Santa is
not only shown with his sack
oi toys on nis nncK dui aiso
what he is carrying Inside that
sack. Haloes of angels, Mary,
Joseph, and the Christ Child art?
shown with connecting stems to
the people's heads. Could this
he their concept or are they
products of our society?
The sixth graders are well in
to the I'scudo-Naturallstlc stage
of creative growth. It Is now
that they are developing intel
ligence in their pictorial execu
tions, yet remain unconscious
for dramatization and action. It
is now that their sense of hu
mor becomes evident In connec
tion with their environment.
They begin to show Santa Claus
riding in super sleighs helicop
ter, Jets and flying saucers,
Santa getting stuck In chimneys
or burning his toes because
someone left the fireplace burn
ing, and Santa's reindeer alight
ing on a roof with the sled
dangling over the edge and toys
falling to the ground.
The stage of Crisis of Adoles
cence is occupied by all high
school age students. They po
ssess two types of awareness
visual and haptlc. Their visual
awareness Is concerned mainly
with their creative execution
while their haptlc awareness
deuls with their self-expression
and emotional approach to sub
jected experience. It Is during
this time that the students seek
symbols of expression and emo
tion without true abstract (In
between awareness). An exam
ple of this type of approach is
a student's drawing of a dove
carrying the Christmas star In
its beak with the wording,
"Peace on Earth."
I hope the above sketchy out
line of creative growth will help
you enjoy and understand each
and every drawn Christmas
greeting which appears in these
pages.
DRAWN BY MARCIA JONES. HIGH SCHOOL
CARL SPAULDING
PDBUC ACCOUNTANT
DRAWN BY MARSHA SOWELL. HIGH SCHOOL
MORROW COUNTY ABSTRACT
fir TITLE COMPANY
c
H
I
s
n
n
Tte ft(r$
DRAWN BY SUE CHALLY, HIGH SCHOOL
FORD'S TIRE SERVICE
mmraro
T 1 V
A A
&RRY
if
'r
'""
Columbia Basin
"C
Wo(
! LA klt
serving morrow, Yrneeier
DRAWN BT MIKE
HEPPNER TV, Inc.
pgr
tra
DRAWN BY KELLY
Electric Co
I "VII? r
ana umiam vounnes
ALSUP. HIGH SCHOOL
"IT-
Os
KRIEGER. 3rd GRADE
- oi
J7