Yilan County Neicheng Elementary and Junior High School Huayu Branch—A Mark of Growth—A Creative Journey of Memory, Blessings and Future

1. My Story: [General Domain] Interview family members about their childhood stories, the origins of their names, and share each other's stories.
2. Wooden Wind Chime Making: [Flexible Learning] Using school wood and domestically produced materials, make your own guardian bell.
3. My Name: [Art Field] Designing imagery and patterns based on the meaning of my name.
4. When the wind rises, I meet myself: [Art Field] Handmade indigo-dyed graduation gown, carrying memories to a wider world.
5. Wind Chimes Swaying: [Mathematics] Think about and solve a problem about the horizontal movement of wind chimes.
6. Using wax as a pen and indigo as ink: [Art Field] Handmade indigo-dyed graduation gowns, printed with your own exclusive totem.
7. Blessings in a Bag: [Arts Field] Create silk stencils from name totems and print them on everyday items and cards.

Marks of Growth: A Creative Journey of Memory, Blessings, and the Future

A name is the earliest symbol a person possesses in their life. It carries the expectations and blessings of family, records cultural heritage, and accompanies one's personal growth. However, in daily learning, students often have few opportunities to delve into the meaning and story behind their names. This course uses "name" as a starting point to guide students from self-awareness, through interviews with family members, exploring the origins of their names, and researching the meanings of Chinese characters and the forms of ancient Chinese characters, to rediscover the unique value in their own life stories.
In art education, the course uses the works of Korean typography artist Ahn Sang-soo as appreciation material, guiding students to understand that writing is not only a tool for communication and recording, but also a visual language with aesthetic appeal and cultural connotations. Through observation, analysis, and discussion, students learn to transform the structure, meaning, and personal characteristics of characters into unique totems, creating visual symbols that combine symbolism and personal style.
The course further integrates interdisciplinary learning with flexibility, comprehensiveness, and mathematics. Students will create wooden wind chimes by hand, using techniques such as totem design, pyrography, silkscreen printing, and indigo dyeing to transform their self-symbols into survivable and usable everyday objects. In the process, students not only learn artistic expression and craft skills but also cultivate observation, measurement, and problem-solving abilities through activities such as adjusting the wind chimes' levels, making the creative process both aesthetically pleasing and practical.
The completed designs will be printed on graduation souvenirs such as drawstring bags, graduation gowns, and wooden wind chimes, becoming a symbol of graduation.
Memories and blessings are imprints on life. As the wind chimes gently tinkle in the breeze, students not only see their own creations but also the footprints of their growth along the way. These works are not just graduation souvenirs but also symbols of self-identity, cultural understanding, and blessings for the future.
Graduation is not the end, but the beginning of a new journey. This course aims to use the power of artistic creation to help students reflect on the past, understand themselves, and confidently embrace the next stage of their lives, carrying the blessings of their families, the companionship of their peers, and the expectations for the future. Art is therefore not just a creative activity, but a graduation ceremony about growth, memory, and the meaning of life.