Krissy previously worked with adults but started working with children when she got to Parish. She wanted to help children feel seen and heard, while giving them coping strategies when they face challenges. She prides herself on allowing the students to embrace their creativity in the safe environment she’s cultivated. “I want them to feel like it's a safe environment where they can make mistakes, they can explore, they can try new things without any judgment. No judgment from peers or from adults or from themselves,” Krissy said. “I want them to be able to come and take it easier on themselves and be kind to themselves and know that they are loved and supported no matter what happened during the rest of their day or week.” Linked by Rhythm The loving and supportive nature that Krissy brings to art permeates throughout the entire Arts & Sciences department. It’s the same feeling that resonates with students the moment they walk into Music Educator/Therapist Whitney Morelli’s class as she greets them with a melodic and cheerful welcome each day. “I always start class by saying, ‘I'm so happy to see you,’ and I really mean it. Some of these kids come from schools or have had school experiences where they didn't feel that way,” Whitney said. “It's important to me that this is a space where they feel that they can be successful.” Music and sound are powerful tools. At the beginning of each school year, her classes look at soundwaves and record their own voices as a way to build confidence. People, inherently, don’t like the sound of hearing their own voices, according to Whitney. “If a kid can progress to being able to hear their own voice, to being able to play an instrument in a specific way, in a specific manner, at a specific time, being able to sing words that they didn't know last week is a huge confidence builder,” Whitney said. “I think it’s because something so personal like music is so innately embarrassing. It feels like you are putting your heart on your sleeve for others to judge. The ability to produce music and allow other people to hear it is a huge confidence builder.” All of the goals that Whitney writes in her treatment plans are non- musical. The lesson plan she builds takes months, if not years, to make. After each class, she evaluates what was successful and what wasn’t and how she can improve it for the next class. Her lesson plans can range from focusing on consonant articulation or learning how one’s voice can go up and down in pitch.
need more control in that moment, whether they had a bad day or the paintbrush is hard to hold, then I'm going to adjust the materials and allow them to create the same type of movement with different materials in the body while in the art making process.
“It doesn't matter if you use watercolors or markers. What is important is how your body feels and reacts to actually using the materials.”
When a student completes their artwork, she never gives her own interpretation, as “the meaning comes from the artist.” She may give her class the directive of having them draw themselves slaying a dragon. She’s doing this in an effort to understand how her students are handling anxiety, looking at the size differential between them compared to the dragon, are they wearing armor, are they winning, and so forth.
They may tell her they aren’t feeling anxious, but their art could be saying something else.
“All those decisions that you make as an artist is there for a reason,” Krissy said. “The meaning comes from the artist. Proportion is important, so is color and the type of line work. Whether it's straight and angular or if it's more circular, that gives me insight into their mood, whether it’s more free flowing versus more angry and tension. I’m also watching their body language while creating, it always changes from start to finish.”
| THE PARISH SCHOOL POST 12
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