First Day

I'm working at the Fine Arts Association, an organization that offers classes in the visual and performing arts. I used to take violin and ceramics classes there when I was young, and now I'm back to get experience in what goes on behind the scenes.
On my first day, my sponsor (Jeannie Fleming-Gifford) had me shadow a group of third graders from St. Gabriel School in Mentor who took a field trip to Fine Arts that day. They went to four workshops: visual arts, movement, music, and theater. Even though I was kind of bored watching them, the kids were full of energy, so they had fun, and I was really impressed with how smart they were. The theater workshop instructor made them memorize a Shel Silverstein poem in about 15 minutes about a girl diving into a pool with no water, and they were actually able to perform it with very little help by the end.
After the kids left, I cut paper for about two hours with one of those giant paper slicers that nearly cut my fingers off every time I use them. My sponsor had a bunch of cards with information about summer programs printed on large sheets of paper that needed to be cut up into individual cards, so that was my job. It wasn't the most exciting job, but it was rewarding to be finished without cutting myself. I then hung them up around the building and got to see some of my old teachers.
Near the end of the day, I went to a two hour board of directors meeting with my sponsor. Does anyone remember Mrs. Wise from the Hawken Middle School? She's now the CEO of Fine Arts, and she led the meeting. It was nice to see her and learn about what she does at her new job. The board talked for a long time about the upcoming annual benefit event on May 20th, and what kind of donations they had. This also wasn't the most exciting thing I could have done, but it was really interesting to see all the work that goes on at Fine Arts that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. It was also nice to see that the people who run Fine Arts are actually fun-loving, relaxed people who really believe in what they do and want to make the world a better place through the arts.