Article February 19, 2018 Issue

Peel off those labels

Virginia Gathings

During college, I interned with an art teacher for a semester. On our first day we went over the class list, and she pointed to a student’s name and said, “You’re going to have trouble with him.” And it did appear to be true, as this boy—whom I’ll call “John”—sat at the back of the class with no interest or willingness to participate.

One day, to introduce a topic of study, I showed the class examples of jewelry I had made, mainly from found objects. I also showed them a particularly nice silver pin, explaining that with some thought and a bit of work, they could turn an ordinary-looking piece of metal into art.

During my presentation, the principal’s voice suddenly came on the intercom and announced that all eighth-graders were to be dismissed from class for an assembly in the auditorium. The students quickly left, leaving my samples all over the tables—except for the silver pin. In the confusion, I had not seen anyone take the pin, but my immediate thought was that John must have taken it.

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