What's Happening @ William Watson Learning Commons

Today we were fortunate to welcome the beloved artist and educator, Jill Doyle to our school for a very special drawing workshop. Guiding our grade 7s step by step, Jill led us in a blended pencil tutorial, inspired by the scenic landscape paintings of Gustav Klimpt. Jill made it clear at the get go that we were using aspects of his form as a template for the creation of our visions - emphasizing that we had total freedom to explore and invent new techniques in the process. What started out with a few simple lines on a page was soon transformed into striking pastoral perspectives of houses on rolling hills, stretched between skies of swirling clouds and the rippling waters where danced the reflections of charming trees. Check out some of the finished drawings below and transport yourself to a tranquil time and place...

Q: What happens when you challenge 4 teams of primary and intermediate students to assemble a mechanical structure with only one instruction book and a two hour time limit? A: One booming and spirited Learning Commons. This collaboration allowed the buddied groups to work with simple machines and mechanical toys in order to learn about some basic laws of physics. Of all the findings today, no law was better realized than good old universal law of gravitation - often with cataclysmic results.