Our school is a kindergarten through eighth-grade school servicing a diverse range of students. The demographic of our student body has changed significantly within the last four years. Additionally, students have socially and emotionally suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, they have lost many of their social development skills amidst the stay-at-home quarantine orders for students (1.65 years of staying home).
Art will be the vehicle for sharing messages of kindness and acceptance throughout our school.
The demographics of our school often create feelings of isolation and social anxiety for our students. Our demographic is 18% socioeconomically disadvantaged, 7.45% ELLs, 9.2% students with learning differences, and 2% homeless. The ethnicity of our student body is 3% African-American, 1% Native American, 11% Asian, 1.3% Filipino, 18% Latino, 1 % Pacific Islander, and 58% White. Students in the minority are faced with many social-emotional issues and concerns.
Based on student suspension rates and the "friction" between students based on race and gender, it has become a significant area that needs addressing within our school community. Our school district is committed to diversity and educational justice to facilitate our students' mental, physical, and emotional well-being.
My Project
Kindness Club-Pt. 3: Art Activism-Using Art to Bring About Social Change
3 Purpose: A standards-based arts education helps children and youth make sense of the world, communicate their unique ideas, and discover who they are.
Students who experience a quality arts education, one that seeks to honor the aesthetic and enduring over the efficient, have an opportunity to engage in complex and nuanced thinking around meaningful work. For many, an arts education is only the beginning of a lifelong love of the arts and an enduring sensitivity to how the arts enrich lives. Through a standards-based arts program, students develop the ability to investigate the world, weigh perspectives, communicate ideas, and take action, skills highly valued in today’s creative and team-based workforce and essential for fulfillment in school and life.
• Students will design and create art prints to mass-produce prints. The goal is to create awareness about social issues and sell and raise money to donate to human rights causes. The theme(s) of the prints will focus on social commentary, as related and connected to students.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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