Baker Art: Building Big Ideas, One Cut at a Time
A basketball hoop. A Plinko board. A soccer field. School supplies. A car.
In Molly O’Nan’s Baker Intermediate art classroom, these aren't just ideas sketched on paper. They're taking shape in cardboard, one carefully cut piece at a time.
Two new ChompSaws are helping students turn ambitious ideas into something they can actually build.
O’Nan purchased the tools with the $500 prize she received after being honored with a CCPS Greatness in Teaching Award.
The purchase was about more than adding another tool to the art room. O’Nan had been looking for a way to make cardboard construction more accessible to a wider range of students.
The idea for bringing ChompSaws into the classroom came from another art teacher, Caleb Burchett at Shearer Elementary, who allowed O’Nan and her students to experiment with his.
"My students really love cardboard and I wanted a way to make it more accessible," O'Nan said. "My MSD students can actually participate with tools like this. So when I found out I had award money to spend, I knew where I was spending it."
The tools have quickly become a favorite in the classroom, giving students a new way to work with cardboard and bring their ideas to life.
“Some of my students have super cool, intricate ideas, but at this age, it's a little bit hard to get control with the scissors," she said. "The ChompSaws have been really nice for them to be able to actually cut out exactly what they want.”
Rather than assigning every student the same finished product, O’Nan gives them room to decide what they want to make and then figure out how to make it work.
“I want them to create projects they’re passionate about, because they will be more excited about the work," O'Nan said. "Giving them freedom pushes them to make decisions, solve problems, and adjust as they go. The ChompSaws are perfect in helping that process along."
The skills students are developing with the new tools won't necessarily stay in the art room.
O’Nan sees the experience as an introduction to the habits and safety practices students will need as they encounter more advanced tools and hands-on learning opportunities at RDC and GRC.
“It can only help them in the future to learn how to be safe when working with electronic tools, why it's important to concentrate, and how to take care of equipment. My hope at the intermediate level is that I'm building those skills to set them on a path to success."
Cutting, discovering, adjusting, and creating is what what a Reflective Innovator looks like at O’Nan's ChompSaw station, and students are loving it.
"Seeing their confidence grow has been the best part," she said. "The students just keep learning and seeing more possibilities."
