Help me give my students a connection on a personal and cultural level. My students will be needing canvas paper and acrylic paints to create portraits of children in need for the Memory Project.
I teach multi-age classes, often several basic design classes that set the stage for moving up to the upper-level classes such as drawing, painting, and ceramics. My art students come into class with fresh ideas, tried and true ideas and most of the time....no idea! I will gladly take them all.
My art room is a safe place, a place to try new ideas or to refine the ones they have.
I am all about having the students find their own voices.
Having mixed grades is fun, challenging and beneficial to the students. They learn to function is our small society, we create a norm in the classroom that works on respect and investigation.
My students come from a diverse economic background, as we are a school of choice. I make sure that we are all treated equally and respectfully, that each student has a right to their opinion and that we never say or act in a way to harm one another.
I enjoy going to my classroom, as I have for the past 19 years. I learn so much from my students and have been happy to call many of them my friends past graduation.
My Project
Our students will be working with The Memory Project. We will be making portraits for children in some of the most challenged neighborhoods in our country - kids who rarely get enough to eat and face the threat of gun violence every day.
The Memory Project is a charitable nonprofit organization that invites art teachers, art students, and solo artists to help cultivate global kindness by creating portraits for children around the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as violence, war, extreme poverty, neglect, and loss of parents.
Our students at MSHS will be providing children that do not have permanent homes or that face homelessness by creating a treasured gift of art. These portraits will be the personal gift from one student to another that remind them of the good, love and hope that is in life. The students at MSHS, as part of this project with The Memory Project, will culminate the project by creating an art exhibition before sending the portraits to their recipients. This will be a free exhibition inviting the community and school leadership to engage in the excitement.
Our students create these portraits to help children feel valued and important, to know that many people care about their well being, and to provide a special childhood memory in the future.
The materials requested will provide my students with a professional grade of canvas paper and brilliant pigments, that will enhance the experience used to create portraits for the children they have chosen to make portraits of. My students will learn to mix colors for skin tones and understand the proportions of facial features. Challenging and rewarding!
Students have a special connection as they create portraits as special gifts for children facing challenges. It's for positive memories, kindness and giving of time and talent.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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 Mrs. Benson-Fennell and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
