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RSU 14 Art Teacher Julie Clark gives an outdoor
art lesson about contrast to fourth-grade students
at Manchester School on Tuesday. School
administrators say art is an important subject
for students right now as it provides a type of
learning that may keep them more engaged during
the pandemic, PHOTO BY ED PIERCE
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By
Elizabeth Richards
For
many young students, art classes are a safe space where they can create and
explore. In this unusual school year, providing these opportunities remains a
priority for the elementary schools in RSU14.
“The
value of art in challenging times is especially important,” said Manchester
School Principal Danielle Donnini. “When planning our return to school this
September we never considered not providing access to the arts and physical
education for our students. We quickly began to plan for how we could bring art
to our students with all the CDC guidelines in place and focused on providing
materials so each child could have the art supplies needed to reduce sharing.”
Other school administrators agree.
“Art
can be a passion and outlet for some of our learners,” said Windham Primary
School Principal Dr. Kyle Rhoads. “We can’t always predict what kids are going
to latch on to and have a passion for,” he said, so providing opportunities
that allow that passion to grow is important. “Art is something they can be
involved in their whole lives.”
With
so many things happening that can cause a child to disengage from school right
now, he said, it’s important to provide as many opportunities as possible for
the types of learning that may keep them more engaged.
Kids
are bringing a lot of anxiety and worry to school in these uncertain times said
Raymond Elementary School Principal Elizabeth Peavey. Art classes are a calm,
peaceful setting where students can set that aside and be creative, she said.
“Artistic
exploration and creating offer a positive outlet for children, some of whom are
experiencing
significant stressors since COVID disrupted schools, families and
the economy last spring,” Donnini said. “Our art classes
this fall have helped our students to feel connected to the school community as
they collaborate on projects that support our whole-school culture and identity,”
she added.
With
the hybrid model and CDC guidelines, there have been some big changes and
challenges for art teachers, which administrators say they are handling well.
Rhoads
said teachers are doing a great job keeping things as normal as possible, while
knowing they need to operate differently due to the guidelines.
One of
the challenges, Peavey said, is teaching while staying physically distant.
Typically,
the teacher would be close to students helping them through their challenges,
but because they need to stay distant as much as possible, children need to use
verbal communication a lot more, Peavey said.
Julie
Clark teaches art at the Manchester School, as well as two classes at WPS. Space
issues at Manchester do not allow for classes to be held in the art room.
Instead, she takes an “art cart” to the student’s classrooms.
“This changes my curriculum quite a bit as many of our art
projects in the art room encouraged collaboration between students, shared
materials, as well as providing enough space to work on larger projects,” she
said.
Another big change for all the elementary schools is that
art classes are rotating in six-week blocks between two groups of students. Typically,
students have art class once a week all year long, so this is a significant
reduction in the time they have in class.
Both not having students in class for a full year and the
inability to share materials due to COVID guidelines, are big challenges, Clark
said.
“It greatly limits their experiences with a wide variety of
art materials and the depth in which I can teach a project. I have less
time to teach and they have less time to create.”
To
address the diminished time that students have in class, teachers have also
recorded video lessons that both remote only and hybrid students can access,
Rhoads said.
Remote
students also received art kits at the beginning of the year so they would have
the materials
they needed at home to create, Clark said.
Rhoads
said he is excited that they’ve been able to continue their annual Silver Graphics
fundraiser, which puts student artwork on products like mugs, pillows, and this
year even masks. The limited amount of art that children are currently
producing at school created a challenge, he said, but the company sent
directions for families to do it from home. WPS art teacher Jennifer Vasiliauskas
also created a step-by-step video lesson of a project for students to complete
and families can upload.
An
electronic flyer will go out to families about this fundraiser, Rhoads said,
and the store will open this week.
Even
with all the challenges, Clark said, students have stepped up and adapted to
the new expectations and changes.
“They are amazing, and I have been so impressed by their
attitudes and efforts to make the best out of this situation,” she said.
Art
classes continued even at the beginning of the pandemic last spring. Art teachers,
like classroom teachers, had to quickly adapt to new technologies available to
reach out to their students, Clark said.
“We created engaging projects that students could do at home
with limited supplies and provided digital resources for them to explore more
if they chose. This has been a learning curve, but I feel like it has prepared
us for a variety of situations that might arise for learning and creating in
the future,” she said. <
