(and a look into the future!)
While talking with a certain Grade 5 student today, I was reminded of all the art classes I have taught at Lakeshore over the past six (SIX!!!!!) years. It’s incredible to think that some of the students I first met as very small people are now fully-functioning, much bigger people.
I first started at Lakeshore School the year I was completing my Bachelor of Education at Queen’s University. I had recently returned home to Kingston after living in Nova Scotia for eight years, working primarily in theatrical costume design. I really enjoyed the work, but living so far away from family was tough, so I decided to make a change.
After arriving home, I was presented with a unique opportunity: instruct a rather small, just-starting-out school in Visual Art, while also completing my B.Ed classes in Kingston, and then pack up bags for Ottawa where I completed my teaching practicum. What a great balance!
I’m pretty sure the entire student population could have fit 
into the current Lakeshore Shuttle van: one Grade 6, three Grade 3 students and one Junior Kindergartener. Over the year, we experimented with paint, pencils and markers, and the Kindergarten class grew by the end of the year. (The photos accompanying this post are from Ms. Trish’s Kindergarten class and feature students who are still proudly attending Lakeshore today!)
Obviously, the students have changed a little, but so has Lakeshore as a school. Our population went from barely filling a minivan to busting out of a school bus! The changes in class size meant changing the way the teachers teach, and so I am back to teaching Visual Art to the entire Grade 1-8 population! This is exciting to me because I finally get to harness the creativity of the entire school. So stay tuned for the budding artists of Lakeshore to start sharing their work and ideas with you!
~ Ms. Coe
