Alison Markley's Blog

Week 3: May 19
          This past week the entire junior class at Tahoma Senior High School boarded the big yellow school buses and drove to Safeco Field. Their mission: to take pictures of public art throughout the city and meet the buses at the Seattle Center. This is a field trip that Tahoma’s junior class is able to participate in each year and is something that the students look forward to.
          In a time of budget cuts and high gas prices, the continuation of the Junior Art Field Trip is questioned by the school board every year. But gas and substitutes for the teachers who participate as chaperones are the only expenses for this trip. The students are responsible for their own lunches and people do not need to pay to walk around the streets of Seattle and look at art. Thus, each year, the Junior Art Field Trip is justified, and the students are able to gain a sense of appreciation for the artwork in the community.
          Each English classroom designs an assignment to go along with taking pictures of public art. One example of an assignment is making a brochure of four different art pieces. Each section of the brochure includes the name of the piece, the artist, its date, and an explanation by the student about how the artwork contributes to the Seattle community. Students must appear in the pictures they take to show they were actually there and are not just pulling pictures from the internet or using copies of their friends’ pictures. It is an assignment that most students enjoy completing.
          The Junior Art Field Trip may not include as much academic learning as what might take place on a field trip to a museum, but they are able to experience the artistic culture that is so unique to the Seattle area. Totem poles and statues of firemen in Pioneer Square share a taste of our city’s history. The Waterfall Garden recognizes the beginning of UPS in Seattle. The International Fountain from the 1962 World’s Fair continues to celebrate the global community to this day. The juniors of Tahoma are able to gain a sense of pride for their community as they explore public art, making this a field trip they will remember well.