WK 1 Greetings/ Letter to Parents

Hello,

Thank you for your enrollment in our elective classes!

I’ve been an educator for over 15 years teaching both college and secondary students. I find it rewarding to help students develop their sense of design, skills, knowledge, and confidence to become the best artist/designer and student that they can be. Moreover, I am interested in helping people be the best they can be as human beings.

Additionally, I am a rancher and have been a commercial welder and an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army. That said, I understand that one of the keys to success and survivability is being able to follow procedures and maintain a disciplined approach to the task at hand. I’d like to make my expectations clear from the start for all of us to be successful this year.

Respect

·       Respect yourself and others – always.    Be the person you would look up to

·       The people and institutions, Code of Conduct and rules that try to make you the best you can be

Expectations

·       Honesty and Integrity - always

·       Work is to be respected no matter how great or small – yours and others - always

·       Work is to be done to the best of ones’ abilities and turned in on time following turn in procedures

·       Work areas are to be cleaned and tools and work put away before you exit

·       Timeliness.  I depend on you to be on time and ready to work. This means in your work area with paper & pencil sitting down, working on the task on the white board.  

·       Stay on task - always     

·       DO the right thing, not the easy one. Follow procedure and protocol

Cell Phones/electronic devices

·       Electronics off and stowed while in the classroom. Solves 100% of the problem every time.

·       Parents, if you need to get ahold of your student while in class, email me so they don’t get into trouble

Behavior

·       For 90% of issues, a reminder or mentoring is provided.

·       For the 10%, students are sent to the Choice program with a referral per infraction.

·       For the 5% of the above, parents will be called to find alternative solutions.

·       Should there be a 1%, a meeting with the student and parent will be scheduled through guidance

Parents, I will care for and safeguard your child as if they were mine while they are in my care. Students are in an active working environment and their health and safety is important to me. Students work with cutting and mixing tools in this environment as well as vapor(s) and dust may be present. Please email me with any specific health concerns or any other needs you have for your child. Mr. G

I look forward to working with you and making this year productive and enriching.

Mr. G

Greg Wortham, MFA

Lab Fees

              Just like college, there are costs incurred for classes which go beyond reading a textbook. I can assure you, the majority of your students’ time in this class is by producing great work! Please ask them to show you what they worked on during the weeks ahead. Even students initially not proficient in art will develop their skills. Please encourage them to develop a sense of pride in their work and confidence in their development.

At Ridge Community H.S., 3D/ Ceramics and 2D courses have a $25.00 lab fee to cover the cost of supplies, equipment and materials used in this class during the school year. After doing this for many years I can tell you that we make good use of the funds and you can check this by going to an art supply store and price checking. I save students and RCHS over 50% of what it would cost individually by purchasing in bulk and scouring sales.

Partial list of materials provided with lab fees for the class enrolled

2D/ Drawing

Paper/ Surface: manila, heavy weight, charcoal, watercolor, scratch board, construction paper, tag board, illustration board, matt board, plywood, scrapbook paper.  sketchbook when fees are paid in full

Media: pencils, pens, pen nibs, ink, acrylic paint, watercolor paint, paint markers, tempera, charcoal, markers, crayons, collage materials, felt, brushes (over 5 types), etc.

Adhesives: rubber cement, white glue, glue sticks, mounting tape, spray adhesive, office tape, painters tape, plastic adhesive tape, mounting adhesive glue, hot glue, etc.

Access to equipment/tools: paper cutter 36”x36”, matters adhesive gun, glue gun, light table, rulers, tape measures, scissors, cutting boards, exacto/utility knives, stencils/templates, punches, staplers, saws, hand tools, etc.

3D/Ceramics

Some of the above items but smaller quantities. Largely the budget goes towards clay and glaze, the colorant used to finish pottery made with heavy metals ($)

Equipment/tools/ consumables: pug mill, slab roller, clay tools, potters wheels, extruder, kiln, kiln equipment, dryers, saws, hand tools, wire cutters, plastic wrap, containers, mixers, trim tools, banding wheels, lumber, calipers, etc.

Your student is not required to provide anything for the course after paying the fee. I understand this is a hardship for some families. Families can pay either the full $25.00 in cash at one time or I offer the ability to pay the lab fee in $5 increments until the fee is paid off within the first six weeks of enrollment. We are sorry, but checks are not accepted due to insufficient funds issues in the past.

Parents, if you do not want your child to participate in this elective class, you must disenroll your student through the guidance department - I don’t have the ability to change your students schedule. Your student will have the ability to fill out a change of schedule request form online once released or you may speak to their guidance counselor.  If you would like more clarification on this, please contact me at Gregory.wortham@polk-fl.net

This letter is sent home with students to be signed and returned. This is to formally alert the parent that there is a financial obligation to be met for credit for this class

Name                                                                         Signature                                                                   Date

___________________________________________              __________________________________              __________

Please return form within 1 week of enrollment for student to receive participation points.

Week 1&2

If you transferred in, or missed the first week, this is for you. It should clarify the course and my expectations.