Thirteen Icelandic educators’ curiosity evolved to near-obsession as
they listened to their transplanted countryman, Thorunn Bjarnadottir,
describe lessons taught and artwork created at Fred Moore Middle School
Center for the Arts.
by Sue Austreng
Staff writer
Thirteen Icelandic educators’ curiosity evolved to near-obsession as they listened to their transplanted countryman, Thorunn Bjarnadottir, describe lessons taught and artwork created at Fred Moore Middle School Center for the Arts.
{snippet anoka}Soon, they were convinced they just had to see the creative blend of math, reading and social studies lessons enhanced with courses in music, painting and performing.
And so, the Icelanders packed their bags and boarded an airplane, making the journey from their island home in the North Atlantic to Anoka’s land-locked middle school Center for the Arts.
The foreign educators arrived at Fred Moore’s doorstep April 23.
Then, after sipping coffee and nibbling glazed donuts in the school’s auditorium, Principal Kathy Baufield and Ben Lacina, curriculum integration coordinator, distributed information packets and described Fred Moore’s unique blend of reading, writing and ‘rithmetic with singing, dancing, painting and sculpting.
“We offer four strands of arts here at Fred Moore: literary arts, visual arts, performing arts and technical arts,” Baufield told the Icelandic visitors before handing out packets that included samples of students’ application forms, the school’s mission statement and a literary journal highlighting the Center for the Arts students’ exceptional work.
And soon, off they went, trailing a quartet of sixth-graders serving as tour guides.
The tour had the visitors witnessing pottery in progress, marveling at oil paintings created by young masters-in-training, tapping their toes with the beat as teenaged musicians blew brass instruments and watching as electronic technology produced artwork at the hands of talented operators.
“This is really pretty awesome. It’s a big school and they’ve got everything,” said Bjarki Jonsson as he navigated a hallway, stepping around a collection of mounted sketches and paintings.
“This is the kind of school I would go to except Iceland doesn’t have anything like this,” Jonsson said.
“We wanted to see how they teach mathematics and language with music and the arts. We had to come see how it’s done. Maybe we can do something like this in our schools back home,” said Halldora Magnusdottir, scribbling notes on a paper tablet while following her young tour guide through the hallways.
After enjoying an all-American lunch (spaghetti and meatballs) in the school cafeteria, the Icelandic delegation boarded a school bus and made their way to their next stop: a pair of schools in Osseo.
To learn more about Fred Moore Middle School Center for the Arts, visit www.anoka.k12.mn.us and click on “visit our schools.”
Sue Austreng is at sue.austreng@ecm-inc.com.
