In The News: CCC celebrates diversity at Edwards

Written by: Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic 

Exhibition features self-portraits from four dual-language classes through March 5

Celebrating diversity is a priority at Edwards Elementary School, so when teachers in the dual-language program were given the opportunity to participate in the Chehalem Cultural Center’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration, they jumped at the chance.

The result was “Celebrating Newberg’s Diversity,” an exhibition of self-portraits by kindergarten and second-grade students that will remain on display in the CCC’s Grand Lobby Gallery through March 5.

“They were really excited to essentially create projects that had to do with celebrating diversity in Newberg, which was the theme of this year’s MLK Day celebration,” arts and public programming coordinator Erin Padilla said. “They came up with these incredible projects.”

Padilla connected with kindergarten teachers Jillian Perez and Jody Jones and second-grade instructors Vicki Acosta and Jane Erickson, who tailored their projects to what they were teaching during Black Heritage Month.

“I mainly wanted to study our diversity and see how cool it looks when we put it all together,” Jones said. “I had kids really study their own color and try to match it and then compare. The fun part was having them all put together in one visual collage at the cultural center and going to see how cool that looks when we’re all together but none of us are the same.”

Perez taught her students about skin tone, tying lessons together with literature, and thinks the lessons were well learned based on the reactions and conversations her students had throughout process of making their self-portraits.

“They definitely saw each other’s differences,” Perez said. “We were studying MLK at the time and we talked about it doesn’t matter what skin color you have, we’re in school together and we’re learning together. Those things came up, too. It was a really good classroom-building activity.”

Acosta had her students focus on the structure of the face in their self-portraits and found that helped some students who were initially apprehensive about presenting a picture of themselves to feel more comfortable with the project.

Padilla said she was impressed with the heritage world picture created by second grade students, which features small figures holding up flags representing their family heritage, ringing the globe.

“Our studies include looking at our heritage through our eyes of our celebrations,” Acosta said. “So our study about celebrations in Latin American countries was around Christmas time, but the portraits tied in very nicely around the idea that people are similar, but we’re also very diverse.”

All four classes were given a tour of the cultural center and for many it was not only their first visit to the CCC but to any art museum.

“Erin (Padilla) at the cultural center did a great job of touring them through the galleries and explaining the different kinds of art that are possible and how they work with other artists,” Jones said. “The kids got super excited and now they all want to produce a lot more art. They’re producing all sorts of stuff that they would like to hang up at the cultural center now.”

Jones and Perez are building on that experience with an upcoming project in which their students will transform their own classrooms into galleries. In addition to creating the art that will be displayed, students will perform all the various jobs related to running a gallery before holding an opening event for parents and the rest of the school.

“It is 21st century learning the whole way,” Perez said. “They’re team building. They’re collaborating with each other and the cultural center.”