"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!

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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)."

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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.

Ambrose: Illustration # 4

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

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)

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.