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Please join us for all-you-can-eat pizza at Wick's Pizza on Goose Creek Road on Wednesday, February 8, at 6:00 pm. Kids $4.99, adults $6.99. Please RSVP by Monday, February 6, to Peggy Coulter at peggycoulter@insightbb.com.

The goal of professional development is to inspire teachers to bring new ideas to the classroom. That is exactly what happened when US art teacher Maggie Towne received a Fortnight Grant* allowing her to attend a Colorado workshop with ceramic sculptor Arthur Gonzalez. Ms. Towne says that she was inspired both personally and professionally by the experience. As a result, she has introduced two new projects to her ceramics classes this year. She is also proud to announce that two of the sculptures created by her students have been recognized in the 2012 Scholastic Art Awards.

For the Open Book project, students created a book that included sculptural or relief elements. According to Ms. Towne, some students drew their inspiration from a literary source while others used personal symbols in their work.

The second project was a figurative head sculpture. Students prepared by exploring different sculpting techniques and studying facial structure and anatomy. Once again, students used the outline of the project to create a very diverse set of pieces.

Senior Colson Steier has spent a lot of time in the studio working on his pieces. Colson says that he has learned to respond when his work goes in an unexpected direction. “Sometimes you see something that makes your ideas evolve, and you change direction,” he explains. Senior Kelli Huneke has created two head sculptures so far and has enjoyed the challenge of capturing the human face in clay. “Art is an outlet for me,” she says. “It lets me relax and be calm when I’m stressed out.”

Ms. Towne submitted a number of her students’ pieces to the Scholastic Art competition. Colson Steier’s book sculpture “Walrus Canoe” was recognized with a Silver Key Award, and Brooke Huneke’s head sculpture “A Man’s Values” earned an Honorable Mention. Both pieces will be exhibited at Gheens Academy from February 7 to March 1.

More photos on Flickr

*Fortnight grants are made possible by an anonymous donor. These grants cover program fees and travel expenses for teachers seeking professional development experiences in the US or abroad.

Last week's district governor's cup tournament was a successful one for KCD. The KCD Future Problem Solving Team performed well and advanced to regionals, which will take place on Tuesday, January 31. In addition, several KCD students performed well in their written assessment categories and in composition. Congratulations to the following students for advancing to regionals:

• Composition: Sonia Gadre and William Brennan
• Math: John Wang
• Science: William Brennan will
• Social Studies: John Wang will