VermonTic - 19 - Vermont's ingenuity

By Juan Fonseca

By Gabriel Guerra

By Paula Téllez

A river of cultures

By Valentina Barragán

WHY THERE SHOULD BE MORE HOURS OF ART CLASSES AT GV

By Valeria Alba

Is It A Step For A New Generation, Or Just A “Not Enough” Sequel?

BY:GABRIEL GUERRA

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a movie that has become the sensation of this season because of its incredible animation, good story and main characters development, and most of all, it’s terrific main antagonist. For these reasons people are loving this movie and everyone has seen it, but, when I saw it, even though I liked it, my first thought was, it wasn't as good as I expected. This is because I noticed that it was made for kids, and the style has changed a lot since I was a child.

First of all, the movie presents a new animation style that forgot about the incredible and epic shots of the first movie, leading to a more colorful production that is focused on having children's attention and at the same time, giving a very good visual experience. However, I've noticed that between adult and young audiences, there exists a division between the preferences in the art style that the movie presents, when asking teachers at GV.

I received answers like, “I preferred the previous style that the first movie had”, or, “I feel like this time they aimed for the new audiences”. I even heard some comments about how this movie made some of adults feel dizzy after watching it. This is because newer audiences are more used to seeing this type of animation in video games or other movies like Spiderman into the Spiderverse, while the previous generations don't.

On the other hand, the GV students of lower grades said things like, “It is my favorite movie”, or, “I think it was perfect”. Showing the impact that the movie had on them. Another thing that got me think was Puss's attitude in the movie. For most of the movie used the same song “Fearless Hero”, which establishes in some way the point of the plot which is Puss remembering his glory days, and even though it's a useful resource in that way, it took part of the epic Spanish outlaw that Puss used to represent and just sound arrogant on many occasions, making it funnier for the children, but a little bit annoying for some of the interviewed teachers.

I think that this movie was not even close to as good as the first one. I preferred the music, cinematics, plot, characters, and animation of the previous movie, because this sequel made Puss seem like an arrogant hero that only acts for peoples recognition, approval and for his own ego. Even though the animation style was very good, I still prefer a more realistic one like in the first film.

Another problem I see is that even though death has an awesome look and meaning, its motivation for chasing Puss and how the conflict resolves itself seems very easy and poorly elaborated. He says that he chased Puss for a long time and it solves as easy as with a final battle were he suddenly changes his opinion

The music and settings in this movie I think were way poorer because they didn't match what I thought, Puss in Boots" should represent, without taking into account that the only song I can remember was “Fearless Hero”. They also had terrible side characters like Jack Horner, which meant nothing to the story but a way of having a way to solve the inner problem of Goldilocks and her family and a way to give some references to other fairy tales with his magic artifacts.

just because he sees that he now values his life when death is something that should act when the moment arrives, not when a person values his life or not.

A positive aspect to the film is that I think that it had pretty good messages for all kinds of audiences which are; value your family, your life, and overall value what you have, because all of a sudden you can lose it. I consider that this is made like this so that a child can also get it, in the first film instead, it dealt with deeper topics and more complex feelings like feeling like you don't belong to someplace, revenge, the thin line between hate and love, or even repentance and forgiveness, which are topics little children have difficult to understand. Finally, I have to take into account that the fact that this movie is made for a younger audience is obvious when you get to see their classification, being the first film +14 and the second one +7.

So, with all this information in mind, is it a movie made for a new type of audience, a new generation? Is it a movie that didn't step up as a worthy sequel? I think that a little bit of both. I think that even though there are many points where it loses to the first one, it is still a very well done movie were they assure that today’s kids can understand everything that happened and the messages they tried to give without losing its entertaining and funny parts, something that the first film nowadays would have harder to achieve as nowadays kids live with a stronger censorship that wouldn't let them enjoy it so much.

Finally, I think that it is clear that it is a more childish movie, but everyone in GV that I asked said that overall, they enjoy it, so this is an invitation to watch it because it was very entertaining despite of other aspects, especially if you are from a younger audience, you can enjoy it a lot, this shows that the new generation films are doing very well in what their job is, to entertain this generation.

HOW

DO

INTERNATIONAL

FIELD TRIPS CHANGE THE WAY WE RELATE TO EACH OTHER?

BY:PAULA TELLEZ

Throughout our school life, the school has given us the opportunity to make several international trips such as going to China or Canada. These trips are the doors to new experiences, they give us the chance to interact with new people from totally different cultures to the ones we are used to, providing us with new knowledge that we can use for our lives. But have you ever thought that it is precisely these trips the ones that make us change the way we think or see things?

When one embarks on a new adventure of knowing and interacting with different things, it manages to get us out of the bubble in which we have always been, which only allows us to interact with a single place; Colombia in our case. This makes people who travel open their minds and become more flexible, which helps them to be able to interact in a better way with the people who are around us. Likewise "the less we know about a place, we will have a greater capacity to learn about that place and the more possibility of making ourselves change".

If we analyze the situation there are two ways to change after a trip; the first is the fact of seeing and understanding another culture, how they act with others, have fun, talk, and how we can learn about it. On the other hand, regardless of the culture where we are, being on our own and outside of our daily lives, we realize that there are many things that we have to do on our own, we also discover that it is important to value family and people around us, that's why when we don't have all these things we realize we need them, or we miss what we always had and didn't know how to appreciate it until we no longer have them.

Although the change is not always drastic, a trip is a seed that gradually generates a change within each person and which is strengthened whenever they receive new experiences from trips to other places.

Most of us, despite going to the same places and interacting with the same people, the personal transformation that we have will always be in different ways. However, each new place we go makes us more open, flexible, tolerant of what is different, and we will be able to develop in a better way the ability to work in a team. This also makes us find things that we didn't know we liked, in the same way, that we appreciate what we have and everything that is around us and not so much material things.

International travel is not just the fact of getting on a plane, moving from one place to another, and seeing the landscapes, it is much more than that, it’s noticing and listening to the reality of others, communicating with more people even for the simple fact of asking for directions, cause this teaches us to empathize and be more patient with other people. It is also knowing the new environment in which you find yourself and experiencing what the people who live there do, forces us in a certain way to adapt to the environment, with different cultures and unknown situations.

Returning from a trip probably makes us realize that we are people at least a little different from how we left, where perhaps our way of being or thinking changed. These trips will always impact us, but it depends a lot on the people and whether they change greatly or not. The more different the trips are from what we are used to, the more we can learn since we will be leaving our comfort zone and that is where we can find the learning zone.

A GLIMPSE AHEAD

BY:JUAN FONSECA

Throughout the student life and especially with the last years during the pandemic, the virtual classroom has become an important aspect of every GV student’s experience. Nowadays, it is imperative that students have internet access, as resources, quizzes and classwork have found their place in the virtual classroom. As a student myself, I will review the virtual classroom. Is it used to its full potential? Or does it have room to improve? Keep reading to find out.

First, the virtual classroom offers a great way for students to keep in touch with the class even when at home. This was most noticeable during the pandemic when everything had to be done remotely, and assignments were submitted exclusively through the virtual classroom. Even if it isn’t used to that extent nowadays, it is still a fantastic way for students to access all kinds of material such as presentations, videos, homework, readings etc.

Second, it has a user-friendly interface, making it easy for teachers to upload any material they want. The virtual classroom has a large array of tools at the teacher’s disposal to accommodate the virtual classroom to their subject and the student’s needs. Depending on the teacher’s reference they can organize the material based on topic, school term, type of activity, etc. This is very convenient for students to easily retrieve what they need at any time, as the resources are very organized.

Unfortunately, the virtual classroom is only accessible through the internet, making it difficult for students who don’t have laptops to take full advantage of the virtual classroom. It can even become a significant inconvenience, as some tasks require access to a computer, which might cause these students to fall behind since they don’t have the same resources as the rest of the class. Another shortcoming with the virtual classroom is its dependence on the teachers to update it. Some teachers use it, while others don’t. This means that study material isn’t available for every subject, as some teachers use it more than others.

In conclusion, the GV virtual classroom is a valuable tool for students and teachers alike to stay connected with their classes and access a variety of material. It has a user-friendly interface that allows teachers to easily upload and organize resources. However, its dependence on internet access and teacher usage creates obstacles for students who do not have laptops or access to certain study materials. Despite its limitations, the virtual classroom remains a useful platform for students to continue their education. If you are a student, I highly recommend constantly checking the virtual classroom as you might find useful material for your classes. And if you are a teacher, I suggest that you take advantage of the opportunities the virtual classroom offers for learning, the virtual classroom should be a priority in teaching as it offers so many tools.

A RIVER OF CULTURES

BY:VALENTINA BARRAGAN

Our school, Gimnasio Vermont, is known for having teachers from all over the world. They bring with them many global experiences which make it possible for us to connect with other people globally in an indirect way. However, we may be so used to seeing foreign teachers in our daily lives that we forget to ask ourselves how they’ve been feeling while being so far from their home country. As I was wondering these questions concerning teacher’s experiences, I got the opportunity to ask some of them how they connect with their home country and all the feelings it brought being able to connect with their culture, these questions were centered around artistic expressions and media so that we could find out which one of these was preferred to connect with their culture.

There were a total of three teachers interviewed. Tatiana, a Russian teacher from the Mandarin department, Javier, an Argentinian teacher from the Science department, and finally, Aaron, an North American teacher from the English department. In the following paragraphs, we will be able to see and comprehend their point of view concerning the questions.

The first question directed to the teachers was “Between media and art, which makes you feel more connected with your home country or one of the countries you’ve lived in?”.

Tatiana answered the following; “It’s a very difficult question because right now my country is not in the preference of almost any media, social media so I think it is more about I will feel more comfortable seeing and connecting my country through art, not with media because all the information I see right now is negative. I get the reasons why but that’s why I prefer getting this connection through art. Art is, or at least I believe art should be judged or be believed in a neutral political way so I think I’ll that’s why I’ll go more for art.”

The same question was asked to Javier who answered: “Regarding the news nowadays, I think that social media can be a good source of information but if it is something related to cultures, such as history or something like that, then I would say something artistic. For example with music, with painting... yes, particularly I feel more connected with music and painting in my case.”

As for Mr. Cody, he gave the following answer: “I think art. And I’m using art very broadly rather than just painting, rather than just physical art. I’m referring to music, dance, acting, and drama. This type of art I think can sort of instantly sort of in a realistic way, make someone feel at home. I think the media and social media, also television are more like an odor, more like a smell that can make you remember something but I think art, music, and things like this, when those artistic expressions do what it is supposed to do which is sort of really touch the heart of the human that is experienced it, that is like eating, not an odor. I think the media is like a smell while art is like taking a bite of something and getting the taste. ”

The next question I asked in order to understand their point of view was “What feeling do you get when you get to refresh the connection with a culture? it can be from your home country or one you’ve been in”. This question is particularly interesting because it is something that can give us a more personal answer which can help us understand that living in another country is a different experience for everyone.

The first one to give us an answer was Tatiana, who said the following: “Well, I have not been living in my country since 2013 because I was living in China for a long time before I came here so I’m missing a lot of my family, of course… my parents, my brother, and his family but it is very difficult to miss things which belong to the country…maybe some food but I already guess I lost the feeling of missing my country in itself.”

Javier was the second one to answer this question. His answer was: “I think that I get a feeling of sadness and nostalgia. However, sometimes I also find myself feeling happy whenever something good happens in my country… sometimes the feeling I get is also mixed with deception ha ha”

I think that moment is not a sad moment but a joy of feeling a connection, of being human with another human.

-Mr.Cody

As for Mr. Cody, he answered the following: “I think nostalgic but happy. I think it is one of the beautiful things about memory inspired by art and inspired by…you know. I think that those memories have an element of nostalgia but not sad nostalgia, it is a joy in being able to share what another human being was able to share. Artistic expression is an attempt to demonstrate our humanness and I think humans are different around the world. I think humans are as much as we are all homo sapiens around the world as a result of our culture and we are also very different we try to express our differences and individualism in art and I think that when someone connects or finds unity with somebody else’s individualism, I think that moment is not a sad moment but a joy of feeling a connection, of being human with another human. ”

It was very interesting to get to know all the points of view and feelings of these teachers as they’re living far away from their home country. All of the answers were very interesting because each of them are from different countries which made it possible for this interview to expose more information about them. This interview should make us reevaluate how we see these teachers. We should admire them for being able to live far away from their country which may be very difficult from time to time.

WHY THERE SHOULD BE MORE HOURS OF ART CLASSES AT GV

BY:VALERIA ALBA

The arts have been essential in our life since the early days, it forms us as human beings not only with huge intellectual capacities but also with emotions and a better understanding of the world, this is why all schools including GV should implement more hours for students to take music, plastic arts and dance.

At GV, it's been thought for generations that creative classes like art, music, and dance aren't all that relevant: even in earlier days, when students reached ninth grade, they only chose one of three art options to take throughout the year. Today the dynamics have changed and we take all three, but with low intensity, having only 1 hour of each art class (plastic arts, music and dance) in a GV week, even though there are more than three times of class hours for subjects that prepare us for standardized tests like math and science. In order to improve the level of distinction in art subjects, we need the intensity to increase.

We talked to the Spanish teacher Andrea Camargo and she told us another point of view of why arts are significant in our life. She helped us understand how beyond taking classes to become an artist, study a career in music or be a dancer, having more art classes helps students open up to new experiences, change their usual class environment and help grow their personal development. We think arts are very important to evolve creative skills in problem-solving, to handle better learning processes, and help balance student’s mental health.

In addition we had the opportunity of talking to music teachers like Patricia Rodriguez and math teachers like Diego Tellez and we asked them the same question. Even though they teach extremely different subjects, one thing both of their answers had in common was their opinion about how the increase of arts allows students to improve coordination, besides of the ability to use different perspectives and creativity as a form of seeing the world.

Why don't we go further and think about how not only learning dance is developing choreographies, but it also helps to understand the human body by strengthening muscles, and blood circulation and reducing the risks of many diseases Not only does knowing how to draw is finding new techniques of shades and colors but also open up our imagination to help people understand how not everything is literal the way it is. Not only is music about playing an instrument but it's also about improving your sensibility and emotional intelligence. Every day we are innovating and learning new abilities around art.

At last, we listened to eighth-grade students about their perspective of having more art classes, they told us about how it was really important for them to develop skills not only for school but also for their future, as now jobs and companies are getting to be extremely competitive and skills gathered by the arts can be the key of being chosen and not being the same as everyone else.

Finally we believe that the arts by itself help develop student’s sensitivity that promotes positive attitudes and values. The lack of art classes could generate in a person the difficulty in the ability to demonstrate values such as solidarity, empathy and tolerance in addition to respect and humility.

In conclusion each art subject should have the same weight as traditional science and math subjects, giving the same motivator and relevance in evaluative processes. We all should think of art classes as a need, not as a complement.

"Creativity is intelligence having fun"

~Albert Einstein~

"Innovation comes out to great human ingenuity and very personal passion"

~Megan Smith~

"Creativity is the greatest gift of human intelligences"

~Ken Robinson~

"There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder."

~Ronald Reagan~