Our annual 4th grade Art Field Trip featured a visit to The Mennello Museum of American Art.  This wonderful museum, at 900 East Princeton Street - just minutes from Orlando Junior Academy, is home to the Folk Art of Earl Cunningham (1893-1977).  This outstanding collection of paintings, by the self taught artist, capture scenes from life along the eastern seaboard of America from Maine to Florida.  The brilliantly colored landscapes tell stories of Cunningham’s interest in boats and wildlife and many paintings also show scenes of Florida’s Native Americans of long ago. The students and several parents who joined us…

OJA’s first Art Intensive week was packed full of new art knowledge and challenging projects.  The students were introduced to the illustrators Harry Anderson and Russell Harlan.  We talked about what art illustrators do - (creating artwork to support a story or idea) and we explored the idea of being commissioned to create artwork like Michelangelo was by the Medici family in Florence or by the Catholic church in Rome. Students reflected on some of their favorite Bible stories and texts, we looked through the beautiful The Bible Story books, by Author Maxwell, with many illustrations by Harlan and Anderson. …

Although fifth graders at OJA are used to guest speakers, never did they imagine one would be so enRICHing!  Mrs. Miller, OJA’s business manager, walked in one day last week to reveal how mathematics helps OJA keep running on a daily basis. Mrs. Miller explained how she uses spreadsheets to help organize her information and keep track of her calculations.  She showed the class examples of her spreadsheets with real numbers that they recognized:  cost of lunches and textbooks, electric bills and water bills.  What promises were made to eat all their veggies when they saw the weekly food bill!…

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It’s a picnic everyday!  Students in grades 3-5 took turns this week eating lunch outside in small mixed-grade groups. They took turns setting the table with the “real” tablecloths and created beautiful bouquets of flowers fresh from the OJA gardens. Table conversations ranged from riddles and giggles to deep thoughts and reflections. Students were quick to share thoughts about the difference between the lunch room and their new space.  Ellie loved that “there’s green everywhere; on the ground, in the trees, and all around!”  Morgan liked that she could talk to her friends the whole time and didn’t have to…

Mrs. Bromme’s art class has been studying tessellations. Tessellations are repeating patterns that connect without gaps or overlaps. The connected shapes make another shape within, often creating an optical illusion. Tessellations help us identify positive and negative images within its’ design. We paired our tessellation study with a more advanced study of color. By focusing on cool colors - blues, greens and purples - we were able to capture the quiet, calming and wintery effect of snow crystals. Our class discussion emphasized the power color has to help communicate our artistic message. We’re integrating our learning on this project with…