Parent Teacher Magazine Rowan-Salisbury Schools January 2014 | Page 13

Salisbury Mayor Paul Woodson Visits
Woodleaf Elementary

Students Visit THE ART OF THE BRICK
Exhibit - Use of LEGO® as an Art Medium
All 4th & 5th grade AIG
students visited the Captain
White House in Graham
for The Art of the Brick®
exhibit that shows tours of
North America, Asia and
Australia. These are the first
major museum exhibitions
to focus exclusively on the
use of the popular toy,
LEGO® bricks, as an art
medium. Artist Nathan
Sawaya has taken it to
new heights. Sawaya is a
New York-based artist that
creates awe-inspiring works
of art out of some of the
most unlikely things. His
recent global museum exhibitions feature large-scale sculptures using only
toy LEGO® bricks. Today Sawaya has more than 2.5 million colored bricks in
his New York and Los Angeles art studios.
After visiting the exhibit, students worked in teams on a problem-based
learning scenario and created movie trailers in which one of Sawaya’s
characters comes to life in a 4D movie for LEGOLAND! The top three winners
were Overton, Hurley and Granite Quarry elementary schools. Each winning
class received an autographed book from Mr. Sawaya and a LEGO trophy for
their classroom.

Is it important for you to know if the Mayor has a dog? First-grade
students at Woodleaf Elementary think it is because that was one of the
questions they posed to City of Salisbury Mayor Paul Woodson as he met
with the students and staff to discuss how important it is to be a hardworking student and a reader. He explained that the people of Salisbury are
his ‘boss’ and that it is important to follow rules even in his job.
One of the new standards of the Social Studies Common Core
Curriculum for this grade level is ‘to classify the roles of authority figures
in ... community’ with the Essential Question being, “How do rules help
to build positive relationships?” Mayor
Woodson displayed confidence and a
positive attitude as he patiently answered
questions about his role as mayor and why
rules are important not only in public life,
but also in the private sector. He also spoke
of how important it is to be disciplined to
reach personal and professional goals. The
students successfully demonstrated another
Common Core Standard as they listened
and spoke to Mayor Woodson using rules for
speaking and listening. They learned a lot
about what “authority” is and how it relates
to them.
By the way, Mayor Woodson does not
have a dog but a cat as a pet...in case
you’re interested.

“DO THE RAPTOR!” AND WIN FREE TICKETS!
“1. 2. 3. 4.”

“Hunt with your feet!” “Eat with your beak!” “Do the Raptor!”
*Chomp!*

(Count on one hand!)

(Talons left!) (Talons right!)

*Chomp!*

(Fly around!)

TWO WAYS TO WIN