Edutopia - February/March 2008 - (Page 24) Cool Schools commission for a client, remains, “I’m not going to be the person who’s holding your hand.” Students have the responsibility to work and communicate directly with clients, he says, and gather advice about sculpture and mold making from each other. “The tie-in to all of those other disciplines is that we’re teaching them to communicate effectively,” says Bycznski. “They’re dealing with people from outside the building, outside their comfort zone. Many times, those people are adults who have much different demands, restrictions, and expectations than I do, and they have to deal with those people.” This real-world level of expectation makes the academic assessment process take care of itself, says Bycznski. Class grades are based largely on work ethic, and, typically, students are the ones doing the sniff test when it comes to the quality of a finished product, or making sure that everyone on a team pulls his or her own weight. “Whenever I start a project, I never really think about the grade,” says Amanda See. “I just get excited about a project no matter what.” Bycznski’s hands-off approach is especially appealing to students who feel limited by high school’s typical barrage of top-down assignments, grades, and mandates. Ask a few die-hard BHSFX inductees what their favorite aspect of the class is, and the response is unanimous: freedom. “The longer you’re in the class, the more freedom you have,” says Melanie Kenzig, who has taken every art class offered at Berea High School. “In other art classes, it’s always, ‘Do this project. Do that one.’ But here, it’s like, ‘Come up with your own ideas. Create something. Do something different.’” Seasoned special effects gurus like Arnold Goldman concur. “If I had had this program when I was in high school, I would have gone nuts,” he exclaims with a laugh. “I would definitely have convinced my parents that I needed to move to Berea to get into Jim Bycznski’s visual arts program.” This, it turns out, has happened: After hearing about BHSFX, Melanie Kenzig pulled strings and switched high schools. “If I ever had kids, I’d force them to take this class,” she says. “I’d want them to have the opportunity I had.” e Special Effects: Student Amanda See (top left) rubs latex on a sculpture she’s made for a rotting-flesh effect. This fearsome trap (center left) is made out of a discarded drainage pipe. The blue beast (right) accompanied the BHSFX class to a comic book convention in Columbus, Ohio. 24 EDUTOPIA FEBRUARY/MARCH 2008
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