My students need NEW FURNITURE!: New heavy-duty, circular tables for community art-making, sturdy stools that won't break, and a real drying rack for our paintings!
The plastic folding tables, cheap IKEA stools and shelves have served us well over the past few years, but it is time for the Art Room to get a make over! This new furniture will help create a more community-based classroom while making it safer and more comfortable for all students and guests!
I teach Visual Art to Kindergartners up through 8th graders.
My students come from a wide range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Our school's philosophy revolves around being REAL: Respectful, Equitable, Accountable, and Leaders. As we deliberately teach these mindsets and dispositions, we work to cultivate a community of peaceful and productive, life-long learners. The Visual Art program has just begun its 4th year of programming and continues to grow as an essential element of our school-wide curriculum. Arts integration is an emerging focus in our curricula and an evolving visual arts program helps develop more thorough and engaging cross-curricular learning units!
My Project
Teaching all students from 6 to 14 years old requires an art space that is flexible and adaptive to a wide range of needs. This new furniture will help me, the students, and other teachers create this desired environment. The round tables will allow equal access to materials placed in the center; the rectangular tables now make it hard for people farther away to reach. They will also make it so students are not sitting in front of each other, blocking the screen where valuable information is displayed.
The new stools will provide a more sturdy and safe seating experience for my students; the $5 IKEA stools are flimsy and uncomfortable, and break easily when sat on improperly. The drying rack will finally provide space for wet artwork to dry properly; for 3 years students have had to either take turns painting and printing, or I have had to get creative with shelf space for wet work to dry. All of this new furniture will enhance the safety and functionality of the art-making space!
All of this furniture will greatly enhance the functionality and safety of the art space.
It will make the room feel more professional as students work on high-quality, durable furniture. It will enhance the ownership and respect for the space knowing that cheap, plastic furniture has been replaced with well-made metal and wood. All of these subtle and overt changes will help the teachers, students and guests achieve our goals of being REAL in all the spaces of our school. Thank you!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Weinberg and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
