![\"Valverde](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Carolina-Valverde_ONeil-cropped.jpg\")
<\/a>Nathan Lania found out his seventh-grade math teacher Austin Mehl loves everything about his hometown of Chicago \u2013 the history, the food, the sports teams and more. Lania also noted Mehl\u2019s passion for activities such as skateboarding, skiing, snowboarding and wakeboarding.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Mehl was the best teacher in the world to me, and I will never forget him. He was more than a cool math teacher \u2013 he was a friend of mine. I wanted to give him this piece to show how appreciative I am for all he has done for me and taught me,\u201d wrote Lania.<\/p>\n The artwork Lania presented to Mehl was Lania\u2019s last creation in the Gifted Visual Arts program.<\/p>\n That\u2019s by design, according to VBMS art teacher Leah Kreuger, who explained the culminating nature of the eighth-grade project.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Teacher-Inspired Artwork project is completed during our \u2018Innovation\u2019 unit, and the students have to come up with their own plan for the project. They decide on the media and techniques based on what they have learned during their time in the Visual Arts Program,\u201d Kreuger said.<\/p>\n Teacher interviews were an initial step of the creative process once students had selected a VBMS staff member to feature. Their visual arts teachers also encouraged students to reflect on the following questions to guide their work: Why have you chosen this person in particular?<\/em> What makes them special to you?<\/em> What have they taught you and what have you learned?<\/em> What items or things can be associated with the person?<\/em> What could this piece of artwork look like?<\/em><\/p>\n In addition to creating two-dimensional art, students had to write an artist statement explaining how their selected teachers inspired them and what their artwork represents.<\/p>\n The final masterpieces and written statements show the positive impact teachers can have on their students.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout the comfort Ms. Drake has given me in the classroom, creating art would never have been the same for me,\u201d wrote Trinity Gallagher. \u201cI have learned from Ms. Drake that even though we make mistakes in life, embracing them without an eraser can create a masterpiece in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Gallagher titled her watercolor artwork \u201cMy Muse\u201d and gave it the appearance of pop art because she knows her art teacher Leigh Drake is a fan of Andy Warhol\u2019s work. \u201cIt was a pleasure to paint,\u201d reflected Gallagher.<\/p>\n “As a thanks for my absolute favorite teacher, I created a piece based on Mrs. Dobbs,\u201d wrote Hayes. \u201cMy idea\u00a0for this project\u00a0was to capture the idea of how she feels about teaching. What she told me was inspiring and motivating.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayes explained her depiction. \u201c[It] was intended to look more like a figure of light that would represent how ribbons of light traveled through and from Mrs. Dobbs. The movement of the ribbons was to give you a feeling of giving out love and happiness as if you could almost imagine the light hugging you. I used warm colors to represent how Mrs. Dobbs makes me feel happy and that I glow with warmth whenever I\u2019m around her. Her happiness, her excitement give me life. Everything about her just motivates me to keep on going!”<\/p>\n “Mr. Baroz is not only a great teacher, but a great person. When I had him as a teacher, he would always\u00a0inspire in and out of the classroom. I trusted Mr. Baroz, and he stands out amongst all of my teachers,” said Schmeiser.<\/p>\n Alexis Jones quoted Ernest Hemingway in her artwork for eighth-grade English teacher Emily Marler, painting the words \u201ccourage is grace under pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n “In just one school year she has made a bigger impact on my life than I ever expected,\u201d wrote Jones of Marler in her artist statement. \u201cShe spoke to us like she had all of the faith in the world in us. She shows us the morals from our books in class and how we sometimes go through the same struggle as these characters. I wanted to show her that there is beauty in everything just as she showed me.”<\/a><\/a><\/a>Crystal Hayes sought to capture her seventh-grade social studies teacher\u2019s \u201clight,\u201d as Hayes described it.<\/p>\n<\/a>Physical education teacher Christoper Baroz is the staff member who inspired Jack Schmeiser.<\/p>\n
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