December 6, 2007

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

‘Spiderwick Chronicles’ exhibit rolls into Graystone Elementary

By Shana McLean Moore
Staff Writer

The students of Graystone Elementary School got the chance to see if their imaginations were as vivid as those of a Hollywood director this week when the touring mobile exhibit for “The Spiderwick Chronicles” rolled into their parking lot to show how the characters from some of their favorite books can be brought to life.

Graystone students pose with the “Spiderwick” mobile exhibit

For the past five years, students 7 and up have been delighting in the award-winning and best-selling written stories by fantasy writers Tony Diterlizzi and Holly Black. Now, they will have the chance to see their favorite characters come to life on the big screen.

Graystone was one of three local schools to be invited by Paramount to tour the interactive display that allows children to combine their love of books and their interest in technology with the obvious bonus of creating an audience of eager viewers for the release of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” movie that will be coming to theatres this February.

The plot revolves around three children, Jared, Simon, and Mallory Grace, who move into the abandoned Spiderwick Mansion and discover a fantastical world of enchanted creatures. The interactive tour bus allows students to meet the collection of brownies, boggarts, trolls, goblins, sprites and ogres that provide the Grace children with a breathtaking adventure.

Event organizers Melissa Powell, left, and Michele Taylor show their “Spiderwick” spirit.

The Graystone students rotated through seven stations that introduced them to the characters and showed them how a written description of a character is visually interpreted in a movie. Students and adults were fascinated by the CGI (computer-generated imagery) Story Slider Station, where they saw how an ordinary photo of a frog could morph into a mythical creature. The Seeing Stones CGI station allowed the students to hold mini LCD monitors to their eyes to watch footage of the creatures in continuous movement with a real life background in each scene.

Perhaps the most exciting element of the display was the Character Morph Photo Station, where children could have their photo taken and have it transformed into one of the characters from the film.

San Jose city librarian Barbara Gilbert was also on hand to engage the students further with trivia questions from the books. She had prizes for students who could come up with the correct answer. She also instructed the students as to how they could reserve copies of the books at the public libraries.

For students who want to purchase copies of “The Spi-derwick Chronicles,” Hickle-bee's Children’s Books in Willow Glen is helping with a school fund-raiser that will allow the school to keep a percentage of the proceeds of all sales.

All of the efforts in coordinating this multi-faceted event were appreciated by students like third grader Sarah Kirby, who bubbled with excitement as she said, "The creatures are very cool because you've never seen any like this. And they took pictures of us so we could see ourselves on the Internet as sprites or thimbletacks. I can't wait until the movie comes out!" she said.

San Jose City librarian Barbara Gilbert engages students with “Spiderwick” trivia.

Event organizers Michele Taylor and Melissa Powell were thrilled with the reaction from the students. Taylor’s experience as the librarian for San Jose Unified School District and as the Literacy Events Coordinator for Graystone has taught her that “the age-old pleasure of reading is easily tied to our new-found pleasure with computers.” She embraces technology as one more way to keep kids interested in books.

Taylor and Powell, who assists her with literacy events, create and inviting and dynamic library that fosters an excitement for reading. In addition to events like the visit from “The Spiderwick Chronicles” exhibit, Taylor and Powell host author chats, book swaps, an annual book fair and even a “Build a Book” night for dads and kids who come out to make a heart-warming Valentine gift for Graystone moms.

Taylor and Powell rely on a dedicated and talented pool of parent volunteers who help maintain the comfortable and captivating learning hub of their school. This dynamic duo and their supportive cast of volunteers are the types of characters that remind you that mythical creatures aren’t the only ones who create magic.

For more information about “The Spiderwick Chronicles” books and movie, visit: http://www.spiderwick.com.

Paving the educational path for our young

By Chrissy Derksen
Special to the Times

You can read about history or watch it on television, but to properly instill a complete understanding, it makes perfect sense to reenact history. Williams Elementary School staff has some great traditions encouraging their students do just that, and they start in kindergarten.

“On Nov. 29, William’s 111 kindergarten students experienced a day in the life of a Native American,” said Karen Costanzo. There were six teepees set up for the children to go to from station to station dressed as a Native American child. They made corn husk dolls, clay bowls, planted and grinded corn, played a game of toss the peach pit, had their faces painted, hunted for buffalo, fished in a river and concluded the day with a pow wow of singing and dancing. There were over 50 parents there to help out and enjoy a great day.”

Karen Costanzo, who will leave Williams Elementary at the end of the year, plays with the school’s 111 kindergartners during Native American Day.

This event has been enjoyed by Williams’ students for many years, thanks to Costanzo, the teacher who created this event, and has grown its intensity through the years. This is her 11th and last year at Williams Elementary School, and she, and her many contributions, will be missed. She will be handing over the reigns for Native American Day to her fellow kindergarten teacher, Jennifer Ereno.

Costanzo says Native American Day has always been her favorite day of the year, and feels the children learn best by “doing.”

“The community, parents and students have all been a constant blessing for me. The daily help and friendship makes every day worth coming to school. I have never felt like this was just a job. I have loved coming to Williams and being with my Williams’ family daily. Any teacher would be very fortunate to work in this community. I will truly miss teaching here but I am looking forward to a new adventure in Clovis.”

Native American Day is a great way to introduce students to a subject they will learn more about in later years. In the third grade, the students study the Ohlone Indians and visit Sanborn Park to further understand the ways of the native people of our past. In the fourth grade, as the students learn about California history, they take an Oakland Museum field trip, which includes docents informing the students about California history and showing artifacts from California’s colorful past.

Kindergarten Native American Day really sets the stage in a very enjoyable way, for the tots to prepare themselves for future curriculum.

Seeking School News

Do you have a school event to promote? Know of a student who has done something amazing or a teacher who has gone above and beyond what is expected of them? We’d like to hear about it. Drop us a line at newsroom@timesmediainc.com or send us a fax at (408) 494-7078.