NMS In The Abstract: ‘An Evening Of Glimpses’

By Tanjua Damon

Newtown Middle School students in the gifted and talented program followed Mel Brooks’ advice from the 2001 Tony Awards – “Don’t tap the bell, ring the bell,” which the students did during An Evening of Glimpses, where students took abstraction to a new level.

Gifted and talented students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades displayed projects that incorporated research and creativity that brought to life the essence of abstraction. Teacher John Vouros spoke to parents who came to see the final projects of their children’s work before letting them see the masterpieces June 5 at Newtown Middle School.

“It’s important for you to be able to enjoy the fruits of your children’s labors and your labors,” Mr Vouros said. “There’s local sounds going on here. This evening is a tribute to your child.”

Sixth grade students created projects entitled “Images of Greatness.” They had to come up with someone who has influenced society in a positive way. The students had to become this person for the evening, building a set or environment that their person would have fit into. The students also had to write a “bioriddle” and essay about their person.

“They have literally become this person. They are to remain in this role,” he said. “They have done a learning center, an environment this person would be in.”

Patrick Dunseith, a sixth grader, decided to be Jesus for his “Image of Greatness” project. He wrote in his essay, “I may be dead literally, but not completely.” He was dressed in cloth and had a large wooden cross at his station.

“I just felt like doing it. I’m a religious person. There’s information, but there’s not a lot of information you need for this kind of project,” Patrick said. “It was kind of weird because he’s so special. He is a big part of everybody. It’s hard to be someone that big.”

Anne Frank came to life through the work of Tara Cerreta. She placed some diary entries on poster board and had a photo of Anne Frank with bars in front of it to show all aspects of the young girl’s life.

“It really was depressing thinking about it,” Tara said. “When you think about it, it touched so many people’s lives. It’s positive too.”

Other sixth graders brought back to life Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Alexander Cartwright, Jackie Robinson, Jimi Hendrix, and Oprah Winfrey.

A Potpourri Of Humor

Seventh grade students’ projects were entitled “A Potpourri of Humor,” where they chose a piece of artwork and literally became a part of it.

“The seventh grade project is interesting in this fashion. It is the most abstract work they get in Discovery,” Mr Vouros said. “This takes all that abstractness and their answer to humor and puts them together. It’s fun to see the humor of these children.”

Raleigh Upshur and Louis Ritzinger turned the famous “American Gothic” picture of a farmer and his wife into a humorous creation of 72 pieces of paper with the famous picture, then adding themselves to the piece by wearing all black.

“I was thinking of something to do and it just came to my mind,” Louis said. “I thought it would be amusing to change it a little bit.”

“Huh? Productions” was the creation of Kyle Ekstrom and David King. The seventh graders tried to shock people by the items they were selling to see what kind of reaction people would have. When spectators asked to touch a product, just before they did one of the boys would say, “You can’t touch that one.”

“We sold products that made no sense like a solar powered flashlight and a cordless extension cord,” Kyle said. “I just thought it would be funny. We were sales people behind a sales desk.”

Even President George Bush made an appearance, blunders and all, as a part of Max Margulies’ project, “The Never Ending Speech.”

“We have friends of the family who are really strong Democrats. I have at least 12 pages of jokes about Bush,” Max said. “It is just funny. I think it is funniest when you read it. I like it. I thought people found it funny.”

Wearing braces can be a chore, but Alissa Gross made her temporary look into something quite unique. She became a business card advertisement for a dentist who has crooked teeth.

“I looked in the mirror and saw my braces and thought of a dentist,” she said. “I looked a lot different than usual. It was just kind of ironic to see a dentist with crooked teeth.”

Eighth graders had to create an anthology from a theme that they selected from The Grapes of Wrath. They had to research and collect various pieces of literature that fit the theme.

Lenora Thornton named her anthology “Don’t Remain Unchanged.” She found various sources online and in poems relating to the confusion and misunderstanding she found in the book.

“I thought there was a lot of misunderstanding in the book with different groups of people,” she said.

Nicholas Isles created his anthology around “Society and the Working Man,” finding that society has not necessarily changed much since The Grapes of Wrath was written, but it has advanced.

“I emphasized the working man and social order,” Nicholas said. “It evolves, but it is the same society. It’s still based of the same things, basic primitive principles, but its image has changed.”