April 28, 1999

Illustrator visits Sabin students

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Tom Woodruff gives a new twist to the concept of paint by numbers.
      The children's book illustrator and educator was at Sabin Elementary School last Wednesday leading students step by step and line by line through a drawing until the finished result was an intricate picture. Along the way, he wove in educational lessons about the subject they are drawing; for example, discussing the habits of dinosaurs, lifestyles of Native Americans or the types of boats that have plied the Great Lakes.
      "I try to use art as an educational tool," said Woodruff, owner of Woodruff Designs in Fenwick, Michigan, near Lansing. "The recall is amazing. When they pull out the drawing they made later they really remember what I told them while they were making it."
      Each grade had nearly an hour with Woodruff and he picked a different topic and level of detail appropriate to the age level and interest. The second grade class focused on dinosaurs and prehistoric life forms found around the Great Lakes while third graders studied and drew Native Americans. The fourth grade received a history lesson about the Edmond Fitzgerald's last voyage while drawing a reproduction of the ill-fated ship.
      Starting from one line, Woodruff led students through adding shapes, shading and squiggles that culminated in a complex picture that told a lesson they would remember. And kids were thrilled with the results.
      "I love this, I like to draw," said Mark Schiemento, 2nd grade, holding up his completed picture of a trilobite, a marine fossil found in the Great Lakes. "Sometimes I draw dinosaurs and I want to draw more."
      "This is a lot of fun," added Haley LaForrest, 2nd grade. "I drew a jellyfish."
      Woodruff travels to more than 100 schools around the state each year, sharing his love of art, drawing and Great Lakes history with the students. He has illustrated four children's books: Michigan, Great Lakes & Great Ships, Indians of the Great Lakes and Prehistoric Great Lakes. Woodruff also works in stained glass design and on other illustration projects.
      "Kids respond to this, even the ones who have a harder time focusing on a lesson have an easier time when it is visual," said Woodruff, an Ann Arbor native who lived in Leelanau County for 22 years. "But even following my steps, everyone shows off their individuality."
      Fourth grade teacher Priscilla Bodamer invited Woodruff to the school after seeing him at a conference in Leeland. An artist and educator herself, she was instantly intrigued with his method of combining drawing with lessons.
      "He is great, he gives so much history to the kids," Bodamer said. "We wanted him to do all our classes."