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Schools

Conway Elementary School Holds Open House

Students and parents flock to Conway Elementary School Tuesday night to meet with teachers and enjoy the arts.

Tuesday night, held an open house that allowed parents and students to come in and meet with their teachers.

"Every student has a chance to showcase their skills and talents," Dr. Lane Narvaez, Conway's principal, said. "Parents also get the opportunity to meet each other and speak with teachers."

In addition to the meet-and-greets, Conway also hosted a book fair in the library and a chorus concert in the gymnasium at 7 p.m.

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"Conway's open house features all disciplines of learning with an emphasis on the arts," said Nancy Walther, who has been Conway's music director since 1983. "It's an exciting, inclusive way for the students to express their creativity and be proud of their accomplishments."

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the night was the artwork on display in Conway's halls. Each of the school's more than 400 students had one piece of artwork on display, which they made in art class with instructor Nathan Bursac, who attempted to "highlight the big ideas of each grade level."

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"For example, in the kindergarten owl watercolor painting we studied line, shape and texture," Bursac said. "We looked at images of owls and broke down their forms to basic shapes and created the illusion of feathers by using a blot technique with the brushes. The overall effect is quite dramatic, giving each piece of work its own uniqueness."

In addition to the kindergarteners' owls, most of the third-graders did paintings of hills, the fourth-graders had artwork that featured a castle or the solar system, and the fifth-graders either sculpted masks or created artwork that was more structural.

Some of the first-graders were part of a project where each one of them drew a picture that represented a line from the story "Gluscold and the Wind Eagle," while others had portraits on display. The second-graders made bookmarks that were being sold for 15 cents outside of the book fair.

"Getting to see what the kids have been working on, meeting families and supporting the book fair help make this an important night," said Chrissy Nardini, mother of a second-grader.

"I think it's great to have multiple events happening on the same night," Tricia Small, Conway's librarian, said. "It's nice to get everyone together and see what's been accomplished so far this year."

Once the parents had met with the teachers, seen their kids' artwork and bought a book or two, everyone congregated in the gym for the choir concert. The Conway chorus performed nine songs, five of which Walther said were pieces they performed at the Ladue District Choral Festival in March.

Check out our media gallery for pictures from the night and videos of the chorus' performance.

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