Project Title: Put It On Paper
Facilitator: Tina Snow Le
Participants/Collaborators: Ambrose, Lloyd Winter, Megabolt, Scout Books

Goals
To emphasize the importance of putting ideas on paper. To expose students to the magic of screen printing and the power of note taking as active components of the creative process.

Reflection
“I was a part of the Friendtorship course during fall of 2011, and was inspired to help sustain the program because I too, was an at-risk youth during my high school years. If it weren’t for a few influential people in my life at the time, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Through design and art education, I want to be able to inspire someone else, to give them the opportunity to make a change for the better, to bring someone to happiness because of projects like these. After learning about Ambrose through my own Friendtor, Lloyd Winter, I was inspired to make a workshop with the Ambrose business model here in Portland. I see this as an amazing opportunity to bring the creative community together for a great cause, from organizations both inside and outside of our classroom.” —Tina Le

To read the lesson plan, materials needed, process and more after the jump.

Introduction
Put it On Paper is a workshop inspired by the people at Ambrose, an after-school art club in Holland, Michigan. Ambrose features weekly hands-on projects led by creative guests to help students develop critical thinking, entrepreneurship and creative problem solving skills.

Materials

Day 1: Stencils
Chipboard or cardstock
X-acto knives
Cutting mats
Pencils and pens
Spray paint or impermanent chalk spray paint

Day 2: Screenprinting
Screens
Screen printing ink
Screen printing squeegee
Paper for making flat prints, or pocket notebooks to print on
Water source
Newsprint or butcher paper for mess control

Process
Put it On Paper is a multi-day workshop to help students learn the fundamentals of image making and screen printing.

Day 1 (Stencil-making) On day 1 the mentors and mentees sit down and talk about what they might want to make a stencil of. It might be a favorite food, animal, person, anything that can be translated into a positive/negative design for stenciling. This is the most important thing to realize when making a stencil: that shapes can’t be “trapped,” everything needs to be essentially one shape, or pieces will fall out of the stencil/take extra time to realize. Once a design is drawn on paper, cut it out with an exacto knife and spray it on something! Have fun! Mix up your stencils with your friends and see what relationships you can make with your images! Try different colors and painting on different surfaces!

Day 2 (Screen printing) One day 2 we had Lloyd Winter do a quick demo on how to set up a screen for printing (how to make the ink reservoir, flooding the screen, pulling the squeegee across, registering the paper, etc). Then we all went to work! Every student took turns pulling the screen onto small scout books and then signed a slip of paper for Ambrose to package it with! We each got to take one home and try to check in with each other about how we are doing filling them up! Students who are not actively printing this day can continue work on their stencils!

Discussion
What did you learn about making with your hands? What was surprising to you? In an age where we use computers for a lot of the work we do, what kind of value do you see in making work with your hands?

Documentation
look here to see more photos here 
& find our teaching & learning blog here.

Resources Ambrose, Scout Books & Lloyd Winter

Thank you
Ambrose
Lloyd Winter
Megabolt
Scout Books
Kate Bingaman Burt
Jason Sturgill