Haas Hall is a charter school that admits students on a lottery system. As a charter school, we operate on a budget that is about sixty-five percent of other surrounding school districts. Our students come from very diverse backgrounds; they represent every group and ethnicity present in our region. Many of them pursue career paths in the sciences, since this is a STEM focused school. Despite the emphasis on the sciences, we have graduated a proportionately large number of students who have successfully pursued careers in the creative fields. I have incredibly dedicated groups of art students who are drawn to our school for academics and are interested in career paths in the visual arts. And despite our very limited resources in the art room, we consistently perform very well in AP courses. I would like nothing more than to provide for them some equipment that will introduce them to a broader range of media and distinguish our program for others in the area. Ultimately, this will foster a sense of pride about the school's art program.
My Project
Since I became the first art teacher at Haas Hall Academy, we have never owned any major piece of art equipment. We've never had a kiln, a wheel, a dark room or a printing press. It has been over eight years. As a charter school, we operate on about sixty-five percent of the budget that other public schools in our region operate. Yet despite this, we have sent students from our program to numerous art, design and architecture college programs around the country. Our dedicated students work hard to prepare themselves for careers in the creative fields and have gone on to pursue them successfully. But I want to provide them with a piece of equipment in the classroom, one that is unique and makes our program stand out among the other ones in the region. Few schools own a nice etching press, likely because most teachers lack the background to utilize them properly. My minor emphasis was in printmaking, so I feel like this is a good fit for our school. Additionally, the cost to purchase, operate and maintain a press is less than other equipment like kilns. This also fits the budget of our school quite well. Additionally, it is my goal that students will be able to produce works they can sell in student-run art shows. Our students deserve a piece of equipment they can be proud of having in their art department.
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