Education grad inspires school children

When Joy Tretick graduated from Malaspina University-College’s Education program, she couldn’t wait to put her teaching skills to good use.

She’s doing exactly that as a full-time teacher for the Nanaimo Ladysmith School District. Tretick taught a grade two class at McGirr Elementary School last year and found a unique way to use her interest in art to teach students about environmental sustainability.

A talented ceramics artist, Tretick wanted to do something extra special to teach her young charges about their responsibility as citizens to protect the environment. She had a “brainwave” to construct a 40 foot by six foot mural with 425 ceramic hand-made tiles created by students in the school.

“The theme of the mural is the environment and the role of children in taking care of our world,” explained Tretick. “We spelled out the word ‘health’ by taking the first letter from the phrase humans, earth, animals, living, together in harmony.”

The mural covers the entire length of a hallway inside the school. Tretick planned the entire project, from fine-tuning the size and scale, scheduling of parent helpers to roll out eight inch slabs of clay, arranging hours of firings in the school kiln, and choosing colors of glazes to achieve the desired effect.

She enlisted the help of local potter Denine MacIntosh as project consultant, and Heather Pastro, an art educator in Malaspina’s Faculty of Education, to teach students about working with clay and designing their tiles.

“I was delighted to assist," said Pastro. "Joy was my former student in Malaspina's Education program and we've become good friends. "My son was in her Grade 2 class last year, and I was thrilled he could be part of such an exciting art education project.”

Tretick designated a specific theme from the mural for each class in the school and the children chose what they wanted to draw within this parameter. Each student from grade two to seven made a drawing on paper and transferred that image by carving carefully into a clay tile. Once the tiles were dried, firing and glazing was completed by parent volunteers. Even some of the teachers created tiles.

Kindergarten and grade one students created the border around the mural – a three-dimensional relief pattern of sea shells – which in itself is a work of art, added Pastro.

Pastro said the most rewarding part of the three-month project was to see the entire school, including parents, teachers and students, collaborating on a project that would leave an important legacy for the school. “In future years, these children will be able to come back and visit their school and the mural will still be there,” she said. “It was a wonderful opportunity to teach the children about the importance of public art. It was also rewarding for me professionally, as an art educator, to work with such an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher and a committed and professional potter. We learned so much from each other. It was a very fullfilling experience.”