My students are diverse, with 20 different languages spoken and students coming from 5 different townships. 15% are designated GATE, 30% come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, 6% are English Learners and 10% qualify for special education services. Many students travel up to an hour each way. They get up early in the morning and after school they travel late. When they get home, their day doesn’t end they have 2 to 3 hours of homework and demanding “extracurricular” activities to bulk up their college resumes.
"Be Your Best" is our school motto; everyday my students strive to be their best in every aspect of their lives.
However, as 11 to 14 year olds, they also need the chance to be creative and make some decisions about their life that are low risk. This is exactly what my class provides. I teach the Visual Arts where, for the most part, there are no “good” or “bad” answers just their answer. They can take risks and just be themselves. With 10 classes of 31 to 36 students, a large section of our student population meet in my classroom; high achievers, socioeconomically disadvantaged and English Language Learners.
My Project
In today's society, technology has become vital in every aspect of our lives and art is no different. Wacom Tablets would allow them to gain the skills that will allow them to be the same in their future careers. This is the first year my school is having an advanced art class. In order to offer this course, one class of my students had to commit to a full year and give up the opportunity to take another elective (student choice) for half the year. They willingly gave this up in order to have a chance to help their future. Digital Media jobs have grown rapidly in our global economy and have so many different applications and opportunities. Unfortunately, arts careers are also highly competitive with an over-saturated employee pool. My students need to be able to compete with cutting edge skills and years of experience by the time they enter the work force. These amazingly dedicated artists deserve the tools that will allow them to succeed. My students are innovators and visionaries in their artwork and they want that for their careers, Wacom Tablets will go a long way to help with this goal.
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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 Teacher McTizic and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
