Ben in the News!

Upon returning from summer break, The Edge Team was pleasantly surprised - and proud - to learn that The Lake George Mirror (a newspaper operating out of Lake George, NY) had honored Ben.  It had composed an article covering the trail-building work he performed over the summer.

Take a look for yourself through a post on Ben's blog.  If you haven't subscribed yet, take a minute to do so.  He will continue to post updates in the months ahead.

https://benbairdportfolio.wordpress.com/2017/09/11/article-in-lake-george-mirror-about-my-work/

Jonathan B.: Ice Rink

Jonathan surveying possible sites for his ice rink.
Image shared with permission from Jonathan's Instagram profile.

Welcome back to "View from the Edge" for the 2017-2018 year! We are back and better than ever with three advisors and nineteen students...record numbers for our humble program.  WHOO! 😀

This year we are going to be mixing things up to keep pushing the "edge" of our work (sorry, had to go for the pun).  For now, though, enjoy some new voices using our classic approach.

First off:  Jonathan B. joins the ranks of Edge with the idea of building an ice rink on the campus of The Kildonan School.  In his Instagram profile linked below, you can see him surveying possible locations in advance of developing a proposal for our administration.  Take a look (and follow if you are interested)!

https://www.instagram.com/kildonan_school_ice_rink/?hl=en

It's good to be back.

The Edge Team

Ben's Performance Task: Part 2 (Final Video # 2)

To showcase his terrain park, Ben elected to create two performance tasks using filmmaking.  Please see the second of those below as Ben processes his work with the help of his park testers and The Edge Team: (also, please check out and subscribe to Ben's YouTube channel)

 

Ben's Performance Task: Part 1 (Final Video # 1)

To showcase his terrain park, Ben elected to create two performance tasks using filmmaking.  Please see the first of those below: (also, please check out and subscribe to Ben's YouTube channel)

 

Ben: Meeting with Jay Rosenbaum

"When we went up to Killington as a school, Mr. O set James and I up with a meeting with Dave Lacombe. We learned about what he does and what the guys in his shop do. At the end of the meeting I asked Dave if I could possibly meet with the park manager. He gave me his phone number so he could coordinate something the next day. However, it didn't work out.  Something came up on his end. I asked Dave if the next time I was over we could try again. So, over the break, I went to practice for a contest at Killington and was able to meet with Jay Rosenbaum."

Interested in reading more? See the rest of Ben's post on his meeting by clicking here.

Annabel: One Last Blog Post

In Edge I was asked certain questions. I want to answer them and give my final blog post as a student in Edge.

Who were you when you came in?

When I came into Edge I was a quiet person. I did not like to speak about who I was and what happened to me in the past or the project I was working on.  I don’t think I really spoke when people were around me, but I had so much to say and was the strongest voice in the group.  Then after tours came by with families interested in Kildonan, it became easier to talk to people, but I still had no idea what I was suppose to say.  Slowly, I learned how to communicate better.  Soon I felt comfortable speaking about myself in front of crowds, even going as far as advocating for public schools to have better education in the New York State government and speaking to senators.  I felt braver by the end.

What did you learn?

I started out in Edge learning about science fiction.  I read “The Star” by HB Wells and learned more about the world of science fiction and actually wrote a couple of short stories.  Soon I was getting bored with the idea learning about science fiction, because was I burnt out from all knowledge I learned from working so hard.  Then Mrs. Charlap mentioned tessellations because of the drawings that I made in art class.  I had no idea what that was.  It was patterns so I looked at them a little.  Then the next day she said that she meant to say fractals, not tessellations.

My first couple of thoughts about that new word was, what is a fractal and how is it important to my life?  So I learned all that I could with and about fractals.  Here is a small list of basic fractals: rivers, equations from math, and some very basics of physics.  I felt like I was speaking a language that nobody else knew how to speak.  So I used the same pattern, fractals, to figure out my way of learning.

Then it came to leaving eleventh grade.  I was excited to leave and come back for the next year.  Over the summer I learned more about scrapbooking, which is a hobby in my family.  I said out loud to my mom, “I wish they had this as a job.”

My mother replied, “That is a job, and it is called Graphic Design.”

So I looked further into this field.  Graphic Design helps describe my way of learning.  So I took some FIT pre-college classes in the city during the fall and ended up loving it.  After that experience, I decided to apply to college for graphic design.  I got into all five art colleges I applied to, and I chose my number one college, Lesley University: College of Art and Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Do you feel like you will be successful in college?

Yes, I do feel I will succeed.  Most people don’t think you can be successful in college because people who don’t understand others with learning differences think we are lacking.  I know I won't be that way in college.  This is because I am hard working.  I know myself very well and I can tell what my limit is and what is not my limit.  I have learned problem solving and creativity in Edge, which were harder to learn before I joined the program.  I will use this work ethic to help me out with learning because I know myself as a unique, hardworking, zany, chaotic, and amiable person.  I feel as if I learned more with the addition of Edge than just regular classes.

What are you going to leave behind?

I ask myself this question a lot.  This is because I did a lot of work, but it is the process of my work that has left a powerful mark in this community.  I will leave behind a legacy of fractals, my brain and knowledge, and ideas for others. I helped show people that it is ok that you can be you.  I also helped teach Ambrose a new way how to write in a form called fractal writing.  I am not worried for the future.  I feel very confident.  I have learned from my failures, celebrated successes, and I am able to move forward.  There is a quote that I have found by  B. B. King, “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”  Even though I did not use this as my senior quote, this means learning is beautiful, and no matter what, don’t let anyone take that away from you.

Launch: Ben's Portfolio (via WordPress)

A screenshot of Ben's homepage:  https://benbairdportfolio.wordpress.com.

Greetings from Kildonan, everyone!

With only 2 academic days left before summer, we in Edge are tying up loose ends.  Students are reflecting upon their learning in end-of-year conferences, and advisors are finishing the last reporting cycle.  It's a bittersweet season as we prepare to say goodbye to veterans of the program.  Annabel and Chris, our community is stronger for your thinking and spirit over the past two years.  Santiago, we wish we had another year with you (but look forward to seeing your future business ventures)!

Whether bound for college or a new year, however, we all take leaves marked by anticlimax.  Our work is not finished, can never be finished.  The passions that motivated us beckon to us yet, so our leavings are the flutter of a curtain rather than the closing of a door.

Case in point:  Ben has begun the important work of creating/maintaining a portfolio that will compile all of his Edge pursuits.  He is designing a website that will highlight his past blog posts, his schematics, his videos on the terrain park, his upcoming pursuits in trail-building, and next year's work in Edge.

From here on out, we will re-post the pieces that Ben publishes via his site.  Click HERE to take a look at his paper on snowboarding.  While you're there, don't forget to subscribe!

Ben: Fake Snow Event

- Contest type and contest information.

 - Advertising for getting people and athletes young and old for the contest, and after the contest for next year.

- A way to draw people in besides snowboarders and skiers.

- Comp specifics includes features, skill/age categories, and number of competitors.

- Prizes, overall estimated cost, estimated prophet, and admissions cost.

Ben: Preparing the Rails

One of the most popular features in a park is the hand railing.  You can use it in a number of ways, such as by grinding or sliding across it, tapping it, jumping or spinning on it, or hopping over it. 

I really wanted to be able to have a few rails in my own park.  So, I just started asking around trying to find someone who would have some old or unwanted railings laying around.  I talked to people at the transfer station, people from town, and finally, people from the library.  The library in my town said that they were getting new railings because the ones they had were old and breaking.  They said that I could take the old ones when they got them replaced.

I waited around for a phone call so that I could come and pick up the railings.  I sketched out how I wanted to cut the rails and where.  Then, I drew how I was going to weld and repair them.  Next, I talked to both my uncles about welding some bases on the railings so that they would stand.

Finally, I got the call.  The next night, me and my father went down to the library in his work van.  We cut the railings into about five foot sections with his band saw. (Five feet is the maximum size that will fit in the car for transportation.)  Then, we took them back to the our garage.  The next day, I cleaned them up by cutting them to the exact length of 5 feet with the band saw.  I scraped all the paint and rust off the rails with a sander and a rotary wire wheel brush bit.  Then, I cut legs with the extra rails I had.

Reassessing the situation, I realized that if I welded the legs on permanently, the railings weren't going to fit in the car.  I had to use a mechanical joint.  After talking with my Dad, we came up with the idea of using Unistrut as the feet because it's super durable and strong.  We got the Unistrut, and I cut it to the right length.  When I cut the legs, I also cut out a small piece of Unistrut so that I could squish the bottom of the rail and bolt it down with the spring nut.

After we brought the rails to school, I sanded them down more and painted them with Rustoleum spray paint.  They were ready by the time we got snow!

"Update on Koi Pond: Onward!," Reflections from Edge Students

It's spring, and the Edge community is gearing up to continue our koi pond project. (If you are only joining us now, click here to get up to speed.)  Interested to hear our plan? Read on for the voices of all ten of our Edge students!

---

Ben:  
"Hello everyone! While Ian and James were in Florida, they made a partnership with Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, Inc. and managed to get many fish donated.  Not only that:  the staff gave us great advice on raising the fish from young to old and creating an environment to breed them.   

"My project is terrain park and mountain bike trail building/designing.  I'm in charge of shaping out the pond and making sure it's deep enough. We plan on breaking ground soon!"

James and Ian:  
"While we were at the Blackwater Creek Koi Farms, the owner showed us the different types of filtration systems he had made.  He went into detail about how all of these systems work and how the fish can stay healthy.  He also showed us his koi farming facilities where they took the koi and sorted them by size, shape, breed, and color.

"As of right now, it's warm enough to do the digging.  We plan on doing that in the next two weeks using Kildonan's maintenance crew. (There is one last conflict, and that is the fact that there is a pre-existing drain pipe that will need to be moved over. We need to coordinate with the maintenance workers on that.)  Finally, we will be creating a parts list of everything we need AND we will install the pump when it's ready."

Ambrose:  
"My project is comics and graphic art.  I will be part of any of the art that might be incorporated into the Koi Pond.  The Edge group will try to find a bench for me to paint so we can add a bit more color to the project."

Farrell:  
"My contribution to the project is an animated short in the style of the opening to the TV show, 'King Of The Hill.'" 
 
Maddie:  
"My project is animal control and veterinary science.  I will be contributing to the koi pond project by doing labor work.  I have also done a lot of research into maintaining and caring for fish, so I will help lead the group to make sure we keep the fish healthy."
 
Annabel:  
"I contributed to the Koi pond project by creating the poster for the project at the Fall Ball.  I will also make an end of year presentation or maybe a magazine on this with pictures and some blurbs.  I also plan to make another poster/scrapbook."
 
Nelson:  
"I will help by removing the stumps and roots around the pond site.  Give me a shovel, a weekend, and maybe an axe.  I am also building a submersible drone that will help me film/record the pond and fish.  Finally, I will find stones and use a book on flora to select plants for the pond."

Chris:  
"We are going to dedicate a bench near the pond to a veteran of Vietnam (since the Vietnam War is my project).  I need to find a Kildonan vet OR dedicate the bench to all of those who served."

Santiago:  "This is Santiago.  Since I am studying business, James and I will ask about taking money from the amount we raised at the Fall Ball.  I will also help by ordering the parts (and figuring out the best way to do that)."

---

Stay tuned for updates as we continue the work! As always, thank you for the support.  Feel free to leave a question! We will respond.

Ben: Wind Chime Blueprint

Ben's schematic for his park's wind chime.  Picture taken and shared by Ben.

Here are my blue prints for my wind chime.  Unfortunately, the wire I used for the chimes wasn't strong enough because the first time I tapped it, I ripped two chimes off.  I replaced the chime with a log to tap.  Next year, I plan to construct the chimes with stronger wire.

"Snow, Confirmed: A Project Realized," by Mr. Bisson

During a recent weeknight, I left the snug warmth of my apartment to open one of the academic buildings after hours.  I felt tired.  It had been a long Monday, and I was beginning to rally my students for a two-week push to spring break.  Still, two of my guys needed to get into the building, so at 7:50 p.m. I got into my car and drove down the hill.

Two young men, James and Ben, were expecting me.  They had requested permission from their dorm heads to miss a portion of evening study hall to come down and work on their Edge project.  When I pulled up in my car, I saw that they were already busy.  They had attached the hoses to the spout, and once we greeted each other and gained access to the building, they began to move their parts outside.

The Snowmaker.  The brainchild of months of planning and collaboration.  It had started when James - overhearing Ben's work on a terrain park - mentioned the equipment needed:  a pressure washer, an air compressor, a fan, and some nozzles.  "It's easy!" he had said.  Not long after the conversation, the two had presented a schematic for the device that - when it came down to it - looked like a combination of an oversized hairdryer and a cannon.  They had described the interaction between the three major components, assuring the Edge Team that they would get the apparatus up and running.  We agreed to support them, and with that, they were off and running.

That night the Snowmaker emerged, piece by piece.  Onto the quad James brought forth a barrel that a friend had painstakingly transported from his local town.  One would think it an ordinary drum if not for one of the School's logos (double "K's") spraypainted on as well as the fan positioned at one end.  Ben led the air compressor outside, spurring memories of the two men crouched over the device pleading for more horsepower.  Finally, the two summoned their pride and joy:  the pressure washer.  Having realized that the device exceeded their financial means, James and Ben had begun a GoFundMe campaign a month earlier in an attempt to raise the $850 necessary to fund the component.  They saw small movement at the beginning of their drive, but with regular parental and faculty promotion of the profile, the two had made their way up to $585.  They decided to foot the bill for the remaining funds (with the idea of conducting a final push during the spring).  It was with no small sense of gravitas, then, that the two men brought that last piece of machinery outside.

With the device assembled at last, James and Ben flipped the switch.  As a mechanical droning enveloped us, the machine began to create elaborate clouds in the air.  The water particles danced in the mild, late winter wind.  James and Ben scurried between the plume and the machine, alternating between adjusting the rate of flow on the pressure washer and nozzles and feeling the water with their hands.  Measuring the temperature against the 39 degree air, sure, but also reveling in the feel of the spray.  As a boy might touch a sprinkler in summer.

At a crucial moment, James decided to pull out all of the stops on the nozzles.  The cloud began to writhe as the plume grew more furious, and James, Ben, and I touched the water more often to gauge its temperature.  We strained our eyes against the darkness to try to spot flakes either in the air or on the grass, but we could see neither.  It was with anxiety, then, that we knelt and turned the lights of our phones toward the ground.

And that's when we saw them.

Crystals.

Not the delicate snowflakes one sees after a storm.  Nor inches of accumulation.  But crystals nonetheless.  Crystals, alien-shaped and strange, gripping the blades of grass across a wide spread of the ground.

It was working.  The boys had done it.

The reaction I saw in James and Ben will stay with me for the rest of my life.  As they whooped and bro-hugged first each other and then me, I felt a profound moment of joy and tenderness.  And I thought back to a topic I had researched through my PLN but only really understood at that moment.  Part of the reason why students disengage from school, and part of the reason why there is such alarm surrounding education (alarm to inject more rigor, to reform it, to revolutionize it, to hold more individuals accountable) is the frequent lack of real stakes in schools.  For students, test scores and grades are abstract data points with no lasting, concrete bearing on their lives, their problems, their aspirations.  On one end of the spectrum, we educators and administrators step in and create surrogates for genuine concern (partly using the incentives and challenges that reach us at our own levels in the bureaucracy).  On the other end (on the more humanizing end, I think), we educators create new opportunities for our learners where they can feel invested in non-standardized work.  Where they transcend abstract data to the intellectual and emotional highs and lows of work that matters.  In allowing those opportunities to emerge and our students to control them, we not only prepare our kids for real projects; we prepare them for the turbulence of real life.

No other moment than James, Ben, and I hugging could have brought home that lesson more earnestly.  A thought experiment yielded to a schematic that, in turn, yielded to a machine that, in turn, led to the water vapor that surrounded us.  James and Ben's work constituted the success of a months-long process of design thinking and iteration, of entrepreneurial spirit and industriousness.  And those tiny, alien crystals clinging to blades of grass were the evidence of their achievement.

Though I left at 7:50 tired and worn down, I returned to my apartment at 9:35, my hair disheveled and my glasses foggy, beaming.  And that smile returned when I pulled up to campus the next morning.  For among the mud and sodden brown grass that reigned supreme in that 40 degree weather, an anomaly - a small patch of fresh, white snow - remained.

Ambrose: Illustration # 4

- Piece submitted by Ambrose (3/10/17)

Ben: Outreach on Trail-Building

For the last two summers I was a lifeguard for the town of Lake George at the public beaches.  It's easy work and pays well, so it's a really good summer job.  However, I have really bad ADHD, so it is super boring for me to sit still.  I was talking to my mom about getting a job at some place like Gore Mountain to build mountain bike trails.  That way, I could gain experience in the job I want to go to college for.  Right now, I want to go to college for Ski Resort Management, and after college I want to be a Terrain Park Designer in the winter and a Mountain Bike Trail Builder during the summer.  But I'm a junior, so that could change (though I highly doubt it).

Over the summer, I was trying to gather information on trail-building so that the next summer I could gain some experience.  I was talking to everyone.  I learned about places like Gore Mountain and the Lake George Land Conservatory.  My close friend, Owen, told me he had a friend who works for a company that builds trails.  Owen gave me his friend Andrew's contact information and I texted him the messages below.

Benjamin: 
     Hello Andrew,

     My name is Ben.  My friend Owen told me you are a trail builder and gave me your contact information.  I’m 16, going into my Junior year, and when I get out of high school I want to go into a career in trail-building and snow park building.  I want to build mountain bike trails like downhill, cross country, slope style, dirt jumps, etc. in the summer months.  During the winter I want to build ski and snow parks.  

     I'm looking for some information about what sort of skills and training would put me in a good position to be hired and excel at the job (college? trade school? etc.).  Would you have time to let me know your thoughts on this (as well as giving me an idea of what a typical day at work looks like for you)? And finally, so that I can get more experience, do you know of any places that I might look into for a summer job?

     Thank you so much for your time.

Andrew: 
     Hi Ben, I'm Andrew.  Rry I couldn't respond sooner, I had a cross country meet yesterday.  I joined the trail crew at the beginning of this summer when I was 17 for my summer job.  It's meant for college age kids, but I had a lot of training doing trail work with the teen trail program run by the adk mountain club.  So they hired me.  Anyways, this is probably the best entry level job for you if trail building is what you're aiming to do.  I'm not sure what precise degree, but if you do this as a summer job, there's quite a few people u can get options from.  The best school would probably be SUNY ESF in Syracuse.  Probably the most important skills would be practice with hand tools like rock bars, mattocks, axes, shovels, and rakes.

     A good place to get training would be the teen trail program.  It's a week long course where u camp out and do trail work at a job site.  It's really fun.  I did it for 3 years in a row and I feel like I learned a lot from it.  Also Moreau Lake has trails days every once and awhile.  That could be good training too.  For my job exactly, you can find information about it by just Googling "Saratoga trail crew."  It's a team of 4 of us.  We're based out of SPAC, and we're probably hiring at least one or two people next year.  Our boss normally assigns us different projects, and we travel to various state parks around the capital region.  Normally if we're making a new trail he will have already flagged and designed it.  Then we go make the trail for him.  We also build bridges and drainage systems.  If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Benjamin:

Thank you!

Andrew:

No problem!

At the same time, my mom, who works for the town, was asking around.  One of the people she talked to recommended that I approach the town and offer to build mountain bike trails for them.  So, we set up a meeting and I approached the mayor and I told him that I wanted to build technical trails for mountain biking at the Transfer Station (where the cross country running and skiing trails are).  I met with him so I would know if he was interested.  I would then know if it was worth the time to write a proposal. 

He suggested that I offer to work half the day as a maintenance worker and the second half the day building trails.  We talked about stuff I would need, compensation, and if it was actually possible for any of this to happen.  At the end of the meeting he gave me some maps of the land at the Transfer Station.  He told me I should write a proposal for a upcoming town meeting.  I wanted to cover everything, but I also wanted it to be short (so that it could get read at the meeting).  The proposal is below:

Proposed Mountain Bike Trail (addition to Transfer Station Trail System)

What do I want to do?
I want to build technical mountain bike trails with berms (banked turns), natural obstacles (roots and rocks), and a few features (jumps and bridges).  It's been suggested that the Village hire me as a seasonal worker:  scheduled for a few hours a day with normal seasonal responsibilities and the rest of a day to build trails.

Where will I build this?
I would build these mountain bike trails off of the cross country running/skiing trails at the Transfer Station.  Exact trail location to be decided (but within the existing trail boundaries).

How will this help Lake George?
In Lake George there is a lack of mountain bike trails, which is unfortunate considering that the Adirondacks are known for mountain and forest recreation.  In Lake George, the mountain bike trails are too far from the village and are largely unknown.  Having mountain bike trails closer to the village will bring mountain bikers, both locals and tourists, into the village, which will boost the economy when they stop for lunch or buy a keychain at the gift shop. It is giving Lake George one more activity than the next town, so they choose Lake George.  

What do I need?

Common yard tools, such as shovels, rakes, saws, clippers, and wheelbarrows.  Occasional help from a back hoe would be nice, but I can do without that if it's not possible.  

A few days after the meeting I got a call from the mayor and he told me my proposal got approved!

Annabel (& Ambrose): Lewis Carroll & Updates

"The Tumtum Tree," by Ambrose

We’re in the Edge room again. All the kids are at their typical spots for 4th period.  Maddie is on the couch, Ambrose, Nelson, and Annabel are at their individual desks, and Farrell, Ian, and Chris are at their respective individual bean bags.  Santiago is at the round table in the middle of the room.  Mrs. Charlap, Mr. Rivera, and Mr. Bisson are looking at what Ben and James are up to with the snow park project.  The Friend (from the last blog post) and Annabel come in.  Staring at her desk, The Friend sees “The Jabberwocky” and asks, “What does the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland symbolize?”

“In Lewis Carroll’s book, Through the Looking-Glass, the Cheshire Cat shows up in the fifth chapter called “The Pig and The Pepper.”  Alice finds the cat in the Dutchess’ house grinning from ear to ear.  Alice questions why it is doing that.  The author says that most cheshire cats grin in this world.  This means that there is more than one Cheshire Cat.  The famous Cheshire Cat that we know follows Alice and is famous.  It is the one that speaks to her in that same exact chapter.  The Cheshire Cat is just like regular cats in the world of Alice in Wonderland, but the most famous one guides her around.

“A cat is different from culture to culture, so you can’t really say that this cat (or any cat, for that matter) is good or bad.  In the Dictionary of Symbols, eight different societies have eight different beliefs on this creature.  In some cultures the cat is a sign of good luck, and it is a sin if you actually kill one.  To some, though, they have the common belief that if a black cat crosses in front of you, you have 7 years of bad luck.  So seeing if a cat is good or not depends upon the culture.”

“How does this relate to the Cheshire Cat in the story?”

“Well, a website says that is just a made up idea by Lewis Carroll.”

The Friend says, “Oh, that is cool.  I have a question:  while writing Alice in Wonderland, do you think Lewis Carroll was drunk or taking LSD?”

Annabel says, “Historians don’t really know if he was or not.  There are some articles that say that he was, some say that he was not...and others say that he was.  So, we may never know.”

“Ok, then.  So...it has been about four months. Have you done any work with the symbol essay? What have you been doing?” asks The Friend.

“I took a little break from the essay, and I have been working hard to put in portfolios to five colleges.  I also got into two.”

“Which ones did you get into?”

“I would like to keep those classified until I pick which one I want to go to officially.”

“Ok.  Cool.  How was FIT? What does FIT even stand for? Florida Institute of Technology?”

“Oh, my FIT classes were great,” Annabel explains. “I am now done with them.  I wish I got more time, though.  They were a lot of fun.  I got some high school credits from them, too, so I am pretty happy.  I made a lot of art and learned a lot.  No, FIT does not mean Florida Institute of Technology; that is down south.  I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.”

“Is that where you live?”

“No, I live in the suburb outside of the city.  Where are you from, Anonymous?”

“I don’t know. I think I am from Algoe, NY.”

“Wait, is that a Paper Towns reference?”

“Yes, because it is fake like me.”

“Ok then...that’s...dark.  And...we went on a tendril.  Should we talk about the picture on the table?”

The Friend picks up the drawing and Annabel explains, “That drawing is a Tumtum Tree by Ambrose.  We both read 'The Jabberwocky,' by Lewis Carroll.  We were going into art, and we were wondering what a Vorpal Sword and a Tumtum Tree might look like in real life.  So Ambrose made the Tumtum Tree, and I made the Vorpal Sword.  I also looked at the meaning behind both.  My work is included in a PDF attached to this blog.”



“Isn’t that breaking the fourth wall...and unnecessary?”

“No, it is good to know.  Well...anyways...see you later.  I gotta get back to looking at this dictionary to help me finish writing my essay.”

Annabel then opens the 1168 page Dictionary of Symbols, and her mind starts to explode "through the words."

Ambrose: Illustration # 3

- Piece submitted by Ambrose (2/15/17)

Ambrose: Illustration # 2

- Piece submitted by Ambrose (2/15/17)

Farrell: Animated

Hello, my name is Farrell:  potential cartoonist, animator, and failed comedian.  During my time at Kildonan, I always heard about this program called “EDGE."  I now spend my time in this program.  EDGE is essentially a pre-college course where you are placed in a room with other people and have to manage your time and work on a project that you are passionate about.  Ever since I joined this program, I feel as if my art has improved, and it really does help that I have time to work on what I want to do as a career.

I feel as if the work that I made in the past (outside of Edge) is something that I can now be proud of. Before this program, I never had time to try to understand how to use animation software.  But, thanks to EDGE I now know how to use this animation program called “Adobe Animate" (and thanks to this video I believe I now have an understanding of the basics).  I have made animated shorts to test out the software.  There was a short where a potato man fell down, hit the ground, and became a bird person.  I would like to continue that short and show what happens to the man.

The way I work on my animations is actually way easier than how I worked on them during my summer program.  I use my tablet to draw on my computer, and the animation process takes a lot of time and effort.  First, you have to plan out what you want to animate, then you make a storyboard that's just stills of the main points of the animation.  After that, you draw each frame in motion.  It's almost like stop motion in a way.  So then, you play the clips over and over to make sure they look good.

Ben & James: Snow-Making

Hey! It’s Ben and James.

We're here to tell you what's been happening with Ben's snow park project.  The project is mostly about terrain park design.  For those of you who don't know what that is, all ski mountains have jumps, rails (hand railings), and jibs (anything to jump on or tap) to ride.  Please read Ben's post (linked here) to learn more about the parks!

Now, we are trying to build a terrain park here at Kildonan, and we have a little problem this winter in New York.  There is an extreme lack of snow on campus.  So, an idea that we have been floating around since the beginning of the year is to build a snowmaker.  That process may seem easy, but it actually involves several gas-powered and electrical machines. 

A snowmaker forms snow by shooting pressurized water (made using a pressure washer) at a high velocity into the cold, dry air.  That process involves a temperature of at most 28 degrees Fahrenheit (but, if possible, preferably lower).  Then, a fan, positioned behind the snow gun shoots the newly formed snow even farther away, giving it a chance to absorb more water as it slowly falls to the ground.

So...what have we done so far? The gun itself has almost been constructed.  It’s based on several successful models that have been out on the market for years.  It uses three pressure nozzles for spreading the water in a misty state so that it can fall slowly to the ground, giving it plenty of time to freeze.  In addition, we were loaned a powerful air compressor to help break down the water into ever smaller molecules.

Here is where we need your help:  all we need is a powerful pressure washer capable of putting out 3 - 3.5 gpm (gallons per minute).  If you, or somebody you may know, is interested in helping us acquire a pressure washer or otherwise supporting our dream to bring skiing and snowboarding back to the Kildonan campus, we would love to hear from you.  Join us in bringing a long, successful, snowy season to our school by donating to our GoFundMe.

GoFundMe:  https://www.gofundme.com/let-it-snow

Thank you,

Ben & James

To reach Ben and James, please leave a comment below and the Edge Team will make the connection!

Note on photos:  Ben and James working diligently on their snowmaker.  All images taken and shared by Ben and James.

Ben & Ambrose: Collaborating on Jib Tubes

Ambrose preparing a jib tube (and surrounded by his finished pieces).
Photo taken by Ms. Charlap.

Below two Edge Makers - Ben and Ambrose - discuss their partnership in preparing features for Ben's project:  a terrain park.  Their words are a testament to their robust collaboration skills and effective work processes.

Ben:
Finding parts for the wind chime, I came across some really strong cardboard tubes.  My original plan was to use it as a tail tap even though it wasn't going to last long.  It wasn't going to last because the weather would get to it.  Talking with Ms. Charlap, she said we could have a student paint the tubes and then use the leftover NOVA Gel (from the pictures hanging on the side of the schoolhouse building) to cover the tubes.  That way they wouldn't weather.  We chose Ambrose, a fellow EDGE student, to paint the tubes.  By now, I had two long tubes, so I decided to cut them into five sections with a saw.  Then, I needed to seal the tops so that water couldn't get in and ruin it from the inside.  So, I took a plastic garbage bag, cut it to the size, then duct-taped it on.  Next, I took a piece of sheet metal and cut it a little bit bigger than the hole, drilled holes in the metal and tube, screwed it down, and hammered the metal so it was beveled along the edge.  Then, I gave it to Ambrose.

Ambrose:
As this was going on I would paint large sheets of rag paper with different designs, shapes, and images.  After the paintings were done, I covered them with NOVA Gel, a waterproof acrylic medium, and attached them to the cardboard tubes and finished them with two more layers of that substance.  I made five paintings.  The images are all different, but a lot of the paint colors are the same.  I only had a couple colors at hand, but I managed to figure out how to mix some of them to get the colors I was looking for.

Ben:
Now we just need to wait for the right weather to try them out!

Have a suggestion on materials for Ben and Ambrose? Want to know more about the project and/or these students' work? Drop us a comment in the section below!

Ambrose: Illustration # 1

Original piece by Ambrose.

This was my first one page drawing.  I made this after I studied the story arc.  The story arc is the beginning, middle, and end in a story, which you can see in a normal comic book with the sections divided by the panels in the comic.  But in a one panel comic you see in the newspaper, they don't have panels, so I believe that the story arc is in their speech that is separated by the bubbles.  So I made my own.

I will now be submitting a piece of art once every two weeks for the public to see.