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Lesson objective: to foster a growth mindset  amongst this cute kindergarteners and to vanquish any fear of making mistakes.

Students were challenged to take an “oops,” (a selection of scraps of paper, crumpled up ribbons, odds and ends were available for the students to select from,) and transform it into something beautiful, useful, or awesome.

The result: creativity at its finest.

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See the art installation in the halls next to Ballou’s class at Parkside Elementary. 

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Squares with Concentric Circles, collaborative project by Parkside Kindergarten Classes, Inspired by Kandinsky 

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Squares with Concentric Circles, collaborative project by Parkside Kindergarten Classes, Inspired by Kandinsky 

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In Square Circle 64, Kandinsky, (acrylic on canvas) Wall Art

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In Square Circle 64, Kandinsky, (acrylic on canvas) Wall Art

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Last month I journeyed into nature with each class in lower elementary. Our mission was to observe signs of the changing season, and to collect leaves that illustrated this transition. Back in the classroom students used leaves for a variety of art-making activities. Some designed trees of their own, others made impressions of their leaf in clay which they then painted using watercolor. The classes of Mr. Okimuro and Ms. Clark even collaborated to create one giant leaf, made from the many small leaves collected by students. This week, students are embracing warm colors to create scenes in Autumn, learning about one-point perspective as they illustrated rows of pumpkins under a setting sun.

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Unpacking RESPECT Through Acrostic Poetry and Adobe Express

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Unpacking RESPECT Through Acrostic Poetry and Adobe Express

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SALT LAKE CITY - A task force working to design a new Utah state flag advanced some ideas based on tens of thousands of comments submitted on potential designs.

More than 37,000 comments were submitted on what people liked in a new state flag. Overwhelmingly, people supported incorporating a beehive into the design as well as something to represent the mountains of northern Utah and the redrock of southern Utah. A star or stars representing Utah's eight sovereign Native American tribes will also be included. Delicate arch designs were largely disfavored by the public.

The task force used a scoring system to show differences in opinions on 20 semi-final designs between the public at large, legislators, a design committee and tribal leaders. While one design may have a higher public score, tribal leaders or the design committee may have ranked it lower.

This flag ranked high with the public who liked the beehive and the color scheme:

Utah Dept. of Cultural & Community Engagement

The task force deliberated each design with members offering their own input. Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said some beehive designs were "too cute" and favored a more traditional looking one. So did Rep. Elizabeth Weight, D-West Valley City. One design appeared to be quickly excluded when lawmakers worried it looked too similar to the "Captain Marvel" logo and might invite a lawsuit from Marvel.

Governor Spencer Cox said feedback he heard is southern Utahns definitely wanted a red for "redrock" versus an orange. Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said he definitely heard from people who wanted a beehive included. They deliberated over different shades of blue and whether symbolism desires of the public were met.

Utah Dept. of Cultural & Community Engagement

What emerged were several designs that the task force considered for further refinement.

"This one is my favorite by far," Gov. Cox said of a refined design. "This looks more like our mountains, it looks, there's something very strong about this flag and I'm unabashedly a big fan."
See the refined design here:

Utah Dept. of Cultural & Community Engagement

Sen. McCay and Sen. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi, also approved.

"We accomplish all of those checkmarks with this flag. Now it it will be interesting to see how we incorporate that with the design committee," said Sen. McCay.

The designs could still evolve as the process moves forward. Ultimately, a final flag design will be brought to the Utah State Legislature for an up-or-down vote in January 2023.

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New Utah state flag designs advance - with changes

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SALT LAKE CITY - A task force working to design a new Utah state flag advanced some ideas based on tens of thousands of comments submitted on potential designs. More than 37,000 comments were submitted on what people liked in a new state flag .

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“Empowering the Next Generation to Participate in the Future of Utah,” aka “A Typical Week in a Murray Elementary BTSArts Classroom”

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“Empowering the Next Generation to Participate in the Future of Utah,” aka “A Typical Week in a Murray Elementary BTSArts Classroom”

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The suggestion for doing a lesson on the Utah State Flag redesign came from every stakeholder at some point over the last few weeks. I was thrilled at the suggestion, as I was already planning this lesson for the week of 09/12. It was part of a second act to my own personal series, having taught part one at my previous school last March. It rocked once before, I was pretty sure it would rock again.

And it did.

Whereas part one was centered on designing individual submissions before the deadline last April, part two would now be focused on teaching the kids what qualifies as good flag design, so that they could then use that new knowledge to participate in this statewide process.

An overview of my lesson:

1. Teach the five rules for a good flag design:

Keep it simple

Use meaningful symbolism

Use only 2 to 3 colors

No lettering or seals

Be distinctive, easily recognizable

2.  Allow the students to unpack the reasons for changing the Utah State Flag.

3.  Upper elementary students then spend time evaluating the semi-finalists before placing their feedback and submitting their choice, thereby contributing to this process of choosing a state flag.

4.  Lower elementary also benefited from this learning opportunity. They spent the rest of class time designing their own flags for the state or for the school, but left equipped with information to empower their parents to consider participating as a family from home.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about this project or this topic in general, connect with any of the 819 qualified vexillologists operating in the Murray area.

Or check out flag.utah.gov.

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5th Graders at Parkside evaluate the semi-finalists before submitting feedback to on their choice for the new Utah State Flag. 

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5th Graders casting their vote for the new state flag.

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Fourth Grade Class at Parkside Elementary.

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Fourth Graders use their newly acquired knowledge of what makes good flag design to create their own flags. Parkside Elementary