Applications for Senior Staff 2012-2013

If you would like to apply to be a Senior Staff member for next year, please pick up a form from the door of room 176. Forms are available as of today!

Consider the questions below:

A commitment to Senior Staff involves being in the Tapestry QRT for regular duties according to your assigned job. In addition, you are asked to commit 1-2 QRTs per week, a minimum of one day during Spring Break, time after or before school, and class time for guest speakers and field trips. Please be sure you are able to commit the time before applying.

Why do you want to be a member of Tapestry Senior Staff?

What skills could you contribute to Senior Staff?

List any experience you have had that has helped you to prepare to be a member of the Tapestry Senior Staff:

What sets you apart from other potential Tapestry Staff members?

Why do you think Tapestry is important to the school and community?

Are you a current member of Tapestry? Have you attended any Tapestry Events?  What have you done this year to familiarize yourself with the magazine? Have you explored our Blog (thetapestryblog.blogspot.com)?

What extra-curricular activities are you involved with? What kind of commitment do these activities require? How would you manage your time?

Do you have any experience with the following. Rate yourself 1 (lowest)-10 (highest) for proficiency with the following:

            InDesign _______

            Photoshop _______

            Excel/ Numbers for finances _______

            Excel/ Numbers for Data Merging _______

            GMail contacts/ Google Docs _______

            Blogging _______

Please get the signature of two teachers as references:

____________________________       ______________________________

A final acceptance letter

Congratulations to the writers and artists featured in the Tapestry 2012 issue! If you would like to see who is being featured in our book this year, stop by QRT 176 to check the list posted on the door.

The Tapestry staff would like to thank all who submitted their work this year. This year's issue is packed with talent, and we couldn't have put it together without the help of our club members and our editing staff. We hope to see you enjoying the book for the first time at our publication party in a few weeks!

Making the 2012 Magazine-- an inside look!

Last weekend, we, the Tapestry senior staff, dedicated a whole day to putting together the 2012 Tapestry magazine.  But this was no ordinary meeting.  As we entered Mrs. Green's room on the last day of Spring Break, we saw the room set up in a whole new way.  The desks were all pushed back to the outskirts of the room, and spread out all across the floor was what will become, with our hard work and dedication, the 2012 Tapestry magazine!  At first, the floor was simply a collage of poems and pictures on white printer paper, in no particular order.  But these poems and pictures are not just poems and pictures; they are the best pieces of literature and artwork that the students of Fox Chapel have to offer.

We spent the beginning of the meeting walking in between rows of these pieces.  We got a closer look at each poem and the picture it was paired with.  After some silent thinking and group discussions, we figured out the best combinations of picture and poem.  This process ensured that each pair was compatible in theme, mood, and topic, and this is important because each of these pairs will make up a full page spread in the magazine.

After finding a picture to fit with every poem, and vice versa, we set about forming the order of the pairs, while taking alot of factors into consideration.  We had to make sure that the color themes of each pair matched with those before and after it, that the strongest pieces were spread evenly throughout, that there were not too many long poems or too many short poems in a row, and that there were not too many sad poems or happy poems back to back.  Forming the order of pages was the bulk of the meeting and also the most challenging, but after a good amount of discussing and sliding pairs of one picture and one poem (or maybe even 2 pictures!) around the floor, we had found the perfect order of pairs for the magazine.

Having accomplished one of the biggest parts of putting together the magazine, we got to enjoy a delicious lunch of Chinese take-out!

Getting back business, we voted on the pictures for the front and back covers of the magazine.  We chose a format for the table of contents and the labeling of each piece.  And lastly, in closing of our meeting, we voted on the format of the senior staff page, as the last page in the magazine is dedicated to the senior staff every year.

Not many people know the work that goes into making the Tapestry magazine, but now you know what goes on behind the scenes in the making of it.  And with that you'll see how every color and every page in the book has a reason, vote, and/or discussion behind it. 

So, are you ready for the 2012 Tapestry magazine?!

Another Reason why Tapestry is Stupendous

     On March 27th, Jordan (Mr. Fremuth) took a group of Tapestry members on a magical journey to Allegheny County's own Wonderland of creative writing, the University of Pittsburgh.  There, walls were torn, friendships were made, and lessons were learned.  It is fair to say that the replacement for our traditional annual field easily thumps IUP in any measure of value.  We were instructed by a medley of Pitt upperclassmen, graduate students, and professors, all of whom we called by their first names.  The effect was exactly what Jordan (presumably) hoped for.  Simply by removing the hallowed, distancing monikers, we, for a day, ceased to be nervous students taught by unbending teachers and became instead aspiring writers being advised by caring, more experienced colleagues.  The teachers joked with us at lunch, shared their own embarrassing teaching tales, competed amongst themselves for the title "Funny Group" to be bestowed upon their stations, and showed many more forms of personality that a student doesn't usually witness in a teacher.  In a small, condensed workshop, we experienced a more comfortable, personal atmosphere than some students experience in classrooms even by the end of semesters.
    That's not to say the instruction held any less quality than one would expect to find in a conventional environment.  On the contrary, we learned to write poetry from a group including the former 26th-ranked slam poetry in the world,  creative nonfiction from a warm and venerable Pitt Professor, and fiction from a trio including the hilarious aspiring author of many yet-unpublished works, including the depiction of a passionate but lusty competitive eater.  As the workshop wound down, we students shared what we had written throughout the day, and the appreciative snaps at the conclusion of each piece were evidence of the unique creativity within the room.  Once all the willing young writers had read, the teachers, in the spirit of the levelness of the day, shared their products with equal enthusiasm.
    In summation:  Our field trip was ample evidence that one who joins Tapestry will have his or her wildest dreams satisfied.

Pittsburgh's Youth Slam Poetry Scene

Are you interested in becoming part of Pittsburgh's youth poetry scene? If so, join the Young Steel group on Facebook. They have a slam happening on Sat, Feb. 25th at 7pm at Cannon Coffee: 802 Brookline Blvd.

http://dormont-brookline.patch.com/articles/young-steel-s-first-event-saturday-at-cannon-coffee

Students: ART. WRITE. NOW.

Traditional elementary art courses begin with looking at the art of the great acclaimed artists of the past and the present. Most everyone is familiar with Picasso, DiVinci, Monet, etc. The same is true for literature. We’ve probably all read some Shakespeare, and who could forget Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?”
    These figures are worthy of all the acclaim they receive, but sometimes it can feel a bit daunting to compare your work with theirs. And who’s comparing, anyways?
    The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards highlight the work of students from all over the nation. Here’s their “About the Awards” blurb:

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have an impressive legacy dating back to 1923 and a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates.

The Awards are an important opportunity for students to be recognized for their creative talents. Each year, the Alliance partners with more than 100 visual and literary-arts focused organizations across the country to bring The Awards to local communities. Teens in grades 7 through 12 can apply in 28 categories of art and writing for the chance to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited or published.

Submissions are juried by luminaries in the visual and literary arts, some of whom are past award recipients. Panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.

To date, the Awards have encouraged over 13 million students, recognized more than 9 million young artists and writers, and made available more than $25 million in awards and scholarships. They continue to be the longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in the U.S., and the largest source of scholarships for young artists and writers.

The  Gallery (found under the exhibitions tab) showcases hundreds of award-winning examples of work, ranging from all types of writing and art to architecture and videogames. Take a look at this work, because it can be just as, and even more inspiring than work created years ago. Inspiration can be found everywhere.

Also, check out the Art. Write. Now. slideshow and tour for more work. http://www.artandwriting.org/AWNTour

Publications

From the desk of Mrs. Green:

As you all know, I encourage my students to submit their writing to the world outside of the classroom. Many student writers consider their work to be an exercise in communication between teacher and student. You, the writer, are assigned a topic; you write; you turn it in; the teacher reads it; you get it back with comments; you despair or rejoice; repeat. If you are only writing for a teacher audience, you are missing out. Writing is communication, expression, catharsis, voice, experimentation, fun. Write for more than school. Write beyond these walls.

Submitting your work to be published can be intimidating, but I encourage you to send your work to the world. Check out this link for many submission opportunities for young writers:

http://www.newpages.com/npguides/young_authors_guide.htm

Also, after our week of Gilda's Club recognition, consider sending your writing about Cancer to the Gilda's Club Writing contest. This can be any perspective, fiction or non-fiction, about experiences with Cancer. See me for the form. Last year I had two students featured on NPR reading their winning submissions. Submissions deadline is sometime in March.

Happy Writing!!