FWCD’s Community Hero
For anyone who doesn’t already know it, FWCD Nurse Lori McCormack is a superhero. Now, she’s being elevated to community hero status … 70 times over … by the second-grade class. View the slideshow. Traditionally, this interdisciplinary project, which integrates visual arts, language arts, and social studies, allows second-grade students to celebrate everyday heroes in the community. Students select their community members and conduct interviews to better understand and connect with their heroes’ work. The art comes in when students photograph and then paint their heroes’ portraits. The final project showcases the community heroes’ stories through the students’ eyes.
This year, instead of conducting a formal interview with Nurse McCormack, the students wrote notes about her. They all started with, “I am grateful for Nurse McCormack because…” Each class brainstormed different ways that she helps FWCD, and they picked what they wanted to write about. Some also wrote about personal experiences. They used a photograph of Nurse McCormack to inspire their artwork.
“This project has always been a celebration of the heroes that enrich the community. This year, focusing on a hero at FWCD, Lori McCormack, was the obvious choice,” said Lower School Art Teacher Rebecca James. “There are not enough words to describe how indispensable she is. The second-grade students loved creating her portrait and had great anecdotes to share regarding their experiences of care with Nurse McCormack.”
View the slideshow.
Second-grade parents were invited to view the exhibit in person this week on Tuesday (March 9), Wednesday (March 10), and Thursday (March 11) by reserving a time slot between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.
The Community Heroes project was created in 2010 by now Upper School Art Teacher Holly Clifford. Its purpose is to celebrate those who make a community work — teachers, coaches, caregivers, cafeteria workers, doctors, pastors, nurses, restaurant servers, firefighters, police officers, garbage and recycling collectors, engineers, building inspectors and more.
