Issue link: https://trevordayschool.uberflip.com/i/1478398
2 5 T R E V O R D AY S C H O O L n S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 – 2 0 2 2 Meanwhile, our "Visual Arts Workshop" students took an in-house field trip to our rooftop garden to do a project that is best done on a gorgeous and sunny day: making cyanotypes, also known as sun prints. is is an early form of photography that relies on the reaction of sunlight and water on special iron-containing paper. e result is beautiful blue images—hence the name. Our 6th graders used a variety of household objects to create individual pieces and group images showing positive and negative space, one of the key elements of the visual arts. (Anyone interested in chemistry may want to look up the reactions that create these images; many simple cyanotype kits are available for purchase and experimentation at home.) e other half of the day for our visual arts students was spent with Concrete Safaris, an organization based in East Harlem that the Middle School has partnered with for several years. Among other things, Concrete Safaris maintains multiple community gardens in East Harlem; this year, our 6th graders helped to garden at their 115th Street and 2nd Avenue location. Our students spent time raking, hoeing, weeding, transporting mulch in wheelbarrows, and getting lots of fresh air. ese gardens are treasured oases in the city, and helping to maintain them has become a Trevor tradition. Next school year, the Middle School intends to host two field-trip and community-service days like this, in November and April, so that students will have both a special performing arts and visual arts experience over the course of their 6th-grade year. We believe such hands-on learning will not only extend the goals of our Middle School arts program, but will also be immensely helpful to these students as they select their 7th-grade arts classes. We also aim for all grades in the Middle School to participate in some type of community engagement during the upcoming year in conjunction with our wonderful partner Concrete Safaris and other city nonprofit organizations. We look forward to a 2022–2023 school year filled with art, movement, and service! n