Is this a Texas thing?

The school that I work at celebrated homecoming this week and with it the parade of homecoming mums and garters.  A student asked me out of the blue if this was a Texas thing or did every high school student wear mums and garters for homecoming?  My first reaction was to say "yes", but then I realized I might not really know.  So, is this a Texas thing?
We've had these traditions for as long as I can remember, but the mums and garters have gotten larger with time.  When I was in high school our mums were smaller than the boy's garters are today, and they were even smaller when my dad was in high school :)
Well, either way, it is always fun to see everyone's adornments and the jingling of the bells as the kids make their way down the hallway.

My Art 2 kids are working on colored pencil projects this week.  I like teaching them several different techniques using this medium and they end up with great looking drawings when they are done.  I usually teach them how to work with colored pencils prior to teaching them how to paint.  Showing them how to layer and mix colored pencils gives them a pre-view on how they will be working with paint.  Some of the kids struggle at first because I do not allow the colors black and white (sometimes just a bit) to be used in their projects.  They have to figure out how to make those colors using other colors. 
Can't wait to show you the finished product.

Students teaching students

I have an extremely talented student in my Adv. class.  The majority of my students are in awe of this young man's work, especially his pen and colored pencil drawings. 
I decided to let him give a demo to my Art 2 students and Adv. students one day last week.  He was extremely nervous at first, but once he got into the swing of things he did a great job.  The classes were very attentive to what he had to show and they are now applying what they learned to their own projects.
I hope to bring in former students into my classroom to give demos to my students.  I believe my former students are a great resource and my students will enjoy learning from them.
I will post the picture of the piece he was doing for the demo soon.

Imagination

I started with a completely different project this year, mostly out of necessity. There are many schedule changes in the beginning of the school year and there is no point in starting drawing lessons until the classes get settled. 
I decided to give a lesson on imagination to my Art 1 students.  I spoke to them about creativity and imagination then had them create the pieces pictured on top.  The kids created these lines using ink and straws, they then had to use their imaginations and look for images within the lines they had created. 
The first one is a wolf, the second is butterflies and the third is a bear (I photographed it before it was completed).  I believe the students enjoyed this project and gave them some time to relax before the real work began.
The last two are from my Art 2 kids and are part of the project that I wrote about in my last post.
My Adv. and AP kids are also hard at work, I will post some pictures soon, along with a door project that my art club is working on.
Have a good weekend.

Musical instruments

Our fine arts dept. was giving away damaged instruments this summer and I was lucky enough to pick up a few.  I decided to use them for the first assignment of the new school year.  School started last Monday and as the kids walked in, I instructed them to pick up an instrument and start drawing.   The kids are finishing up, some just need to add some finishing details.
The top two are oil pastel completed by Art 3 and 4 students and the bottom two are watercolor completed by Art 2 students. 
As soon as more are completed I will take pictures and post.