Students earn credit through program with Kendall College of Art and Design

A current art exhibit at Tecumseh District Library shows the college art created by Tecumseh High School (THS) students Drawing I Foundations. A dual enrollment art class, students earn high school credit from THS as well as three credit hours from Kendall College of Art and Design.Students must apply for the class. They interview with instructor Ron Frenzen and submit a portfolio of their work to Kendall. The fall semester had 13 students in the class.“Kendall is very specific about students who take the class,” said Frenzen about the application process. “The college has the final say of who is in the program.”Frenzen follows a specific curriculum for the class. The goal is for his THS students to have the same experience as a Kendall art student.“We follow the syllabus from Kendall,” he said. “We do what they would do on campus. We meet during the school day. There are 40 schools in the state of Michigan that are doing dual enrollment with Kendall.”Out of the 40 schools, THS is the only high school to offer the class during the day. The advantage is students involved in athletics or other after school activities are able to take the class.In the Drawing I Foundations class, students worked with charcoal, pencil, colored pencil and white charcoal on black paper. Students selected their best work for the art exhibit at the library.“This drawing class is drawing from observation. We’re not copying anything,” said Frenzen. “Each student could take two or three pieces to show. There are 31 pieces in the exhibit. We have the space for January, February and March.”The exhibit is in a space where Community Arts of Tecumseh (CAT) instructors show their work. When Frenzen was asked if he wanted the space to show student work, he did not hesitate.The chance to prepare work for exhibit and then display pieces is part of the art experience. After the college semester ended in December, Frenzen worked with the students to teach them how to matte their work and prepare for display.“The students picked out the work,” Frenzen said. “They helped hang the show.”With the dual enrollment curriculum, each semester there is a different art focus. “We offered this dual enrollment class in 2006 and 2007, and fall semester 2014 was the return of the opportunity. In 2006 when we first offered the class, Kendall came to us. They really looked at the programs the schools offered, and liked our art program,” said Frenzen. “This semester we have 3D design. It’s basically a sculpture class. Next year we are offering two more foundation classes. In the fall we will offer color theory, and in the spring term we are going to do 2D design. A student could graduate with 12 hours of Kendall credit if they took all four classes.”With the structure of the class being more like a college class, students had to get used to a different way of learning. “There was a period of adjustment in the beginning,” Frenzen said. “Things like deadlines and due dates are different than in high school.”Despite adjusting to a college course, the students have really enjoyed the class. Their introduction to Kendall was a positive one for the students, eight seniors, four juniors and one sophomore.“Three of the thirteen are going to Kendall with some excellent scholarships,” said Frenzen. “I think that’s a pretty good recommendation they like it.”The display of the student art at the Tecumseh District Library runs through March and is available for viewing during regular library hours.