Celebrate Black Teachers and Students
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
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Mrs. Leaym-Fernandez from Flint MI is requesting supplies through DonorsChoose, the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
My students need heavy drawing paper, india ink, and bamboo brushes to learn how ink and paper work while learning to appreciate brush work of Chinese artworks.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
I teach 7 hours straight with no planning hour as to help our district get out of debt. I want to have an amazing-rockin' art program! But this takes money and action on my part--thus my plea to all of you to support my work in the classroom. We have nothing and my kids need and deserve the best!
My students have magic inside!
They have lost it, they can't find it; and it's my job to bring it out and I do! My students are all in the alternative high school. My kids have been kicked out of a traditional schools and settings. Without a plethora of supplies to engage learning, create excitement, and grab attention, my program falls flat. I work to build relationships with my students. I work to show them I care. This takes them by surprise. My students are grade 7 and then 9-12; most are reading below grade level, grades behind, and at a loss at how to get ahead. My students don't understand the value of just showing up and trying. Most are scared to death to try, as if failure can be embarrassing, demoralizing, and not fun. My students do not understand that creative failure is pretty normal in any classroom--that this IS the place to try, try, and try again. My goal is to bring something a bit more beautiful to their minds, to get them to think differently, and more creatively--will you help?
Using ink with real twigs kind of blows their minds. Pens are for writing, pencils are for writing, and it's hard for my kids to think otherwise. Doing this project will help open their eyes to POSSIBILITIES in creativity. Creativity is an alien concept to most of my students. Using the twigs will allow for more controlled ink drawing--ink and twig, which my kids are excited to do. They don't believe a twig can be a drawing tool. I want to have them add their own personal, inner city twist--their own perspective to the work they create in class. This activity alone will take my students to the doorway of new thinking, showing that art can be made from and with nature and be interesting to create. Students will learn how to manipulate an bamboo brush with squirrel hair (which is really floppy), do several types of washes--to allow for the creation of fish, leaves, etc. with just the shape of the brush stroke, and finally to do detail work with the twig and ink in layered washes.
Getting the supplies to complete this project will allow me to present some great learning opportunities to my students.
Being able to have supplies for my students to use will build confidence, allow for exploration and present the opportunity for the creation of some gorgeous artwork. My kids NEED to have these kinds of experiences--for every $1000 per child for arts programming this community can save $37,000 to $100,000 on parole officers, incarceration, and welfare costs.
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Expand the "Where your donation goes" section below to see exactly what Mrs. Leaym-Fernandez is requesting.
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