With a running shoe propped up in one hand, Kevin Miller pokes at it with a red pipe cleaner. Already, he has inserted several different coloured pipe cleaners into the shoe, which protrude from it decoratively.
For Miller, a Grade 12 student at South Delta Secondary, the shoe is a representation of his passion for athletics. The coloured pipe cleaners symbolize different life influencers, such as red for love and green for the environment.
Shortly, he plans on adding strings to his creation that will represent the things that tie him down and ground him.
Expressing himself so creatively is not something Miller is used to, but having him step out of his comfort zone is exactly why teachers Julie Lymburner and Cheryl Brasnett initiated the project.
"It's an opportunity for them to be individuals and to demonstrate their knowledge in a different way," says Lymburner, head of the fine arts department at SDSS.
Meeting of the Minds: Science and Art is an initiative for Brasnett's Grade 12 health science class. Students were asked to reflect on their personal wellbeing and then to express what their own wellness means to them in a visual way.
Brasnett first taught the students the different components of wellness: social, emotional, intellectual, physical, spiritual, occupational, mental and financial. Then, Lymburner taught them the elements of art: colour, shape, line, texture and tone.
From there, it is up to the students to delve into self-reflection and critical analysis.
"It's kind of hard to think of yourself in a different way like that. I like it. You really need to explore yourself and discover what you like and don't like," says Erin MacDougall, a student who is representing herself with a glass bottle decorat-ed in leaves and blue waves to symbolize nature and her passion for competitive swimming.
Other students agree it is not an easy project.
"It's kind of difficult to think of creative ways to express me," says Amy Breuers.
"It's really out of the box," says Miller as he continues to poke at his shoe with pipe cleaners.
One of the project goals is to engage students in inquiry-based learning, a form that uses self-discovery to achieve deeper understanding.
Having the skill of critical analysis will definitely benefit the students in the future, explains Lymburner and Brasnett. For post-secondary school, employment and in everyday life, it is important to be able to apply self-discovery, they say.
"The true value of this project is if they can take this exercise and translate it to other things," says Lymburner.
Lymburner and Brasnett came up with the idea for the initiative after taking part in three school-based professional development sessions about personal wellness. Not only did they think the topic would be wonderful for their students to explore, but they also knew it would embrace inquiry-based learning and would be a great collaborative venture for the two of them as teachers.
The project is proving to be a learning experience for everyone involved, which is exactly what Brasnett and Lymburner wanted.
