Proud parents roamed the classrooms of Plympton Elementary School last night stopping to listen to music, snap photos of artwork and even watch a play.
The school's annual Fine Arts Night gives music, drama and art teachers a chance to collaborate on curriculum and allows parents to see some of the projects students worked on throughout the year.
Art teacher Mary Coughlan said this year the art reflected Asian cultures, a theme of focus for the school year.
"Every year (the school's multi-cultural committee) focuses on something different. Last year we did South America so we had a lot of art inspired by places like Guatemala," she said. "Basically you see different versions of the same thing every year. It shows you that creative expression is universal."
Last night, portraits drawn with crayons, paper-plate butterflies and paintings of elephants sprinkled with glitter lined the hallways. Parents went from classroom to classroom, stopping to snap a photo of their kid's artwork.
"I think it's great. All the art, music and drama teachers, they work well together," said Cindy Boudreau, co-president of Plympton's Parent Teacher Organization. "The kids get to learn so many things. With budget cuts pending, we wouldn't want the arts to go away. These kids almost get to travel (through this art). They learn things they don't normally get to study."
Ten-year-old students Vanessa Boulos and Kyle Irvine stood at table to show off their art.
"We made elephants and we put glitter on them and we made them from different color pieces of paper," Irvine said. "We also made these Chinese books and we wrote part of a story in them and decorated them. I like this because other people can see your artwork and your parents can see what you did in art class all year."
Parents were also treated to musical selections last night. Music teacher Kevin Burke lead the Plympton School Band made up of about 25 fourth- and-fifth graders who practice once a week throughout the school year.
To fit in with the theme of the year, Burke and his students tackled " Sakura," a Japanese folk song arranged by Michael Story.
"It takes a team to put something like this together," he said. "It's the hard work of everybody."
Drama teacher Melissa Hagan-Alves directed 20 second-graders in the play, "The Number Zero." Hagan-Alves said she adapted the play from a math textbook used in the school. To fit in with the cultural theme, the story took place in India and students dressed in traditional Indian clothing.
"It's basically the story explaining how the number zero came to be. There's a boy talking to his mom and he doesn't understand the number zero," she said. "The story takes place 1,500 years ago in India. A scribe messes up his numbers and eventually gets in trouble with the king and queen and he creates the number zero to solve that problem."
Principal Peter Silverman said the point of the night is to integrate art into the school's curriculum at all levels.
"It's just a nice festive way for everyone to be involved at the end of the year," he said. "It really shows how the staff works together on behalf of the kids."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
