|
 On November 11, 2003, the entire faculty of an Atlanta Public Elementary School came together to create self-portrait collages and learn more about each other as they presented their artworks to their peers.
Through this activity, they learned new ways to use the art of collage to teach language arts skills, including vocabulary development, comprehension, and writing--all critical components of the Georgia Performance Standards.
The teachers also discovered hidden creative abilities among their staff during the workshop. When asked, "Who here has a creative talent that no one in this school community knows about?," they responded with confessions that surprised them all! There was a painter, a cellist, a quilter, a singer, a calligrapher and many more under-utilized and unrecognized talents that could be helpful in their school community!
The teachers entered the workshop exhausted at the end of their long teaching day, but left inspired, with their creativity ignited!
This is a school that, by majority vote, agreed to implement the Creating Pride Model for three years.
They selected their Art Hour and agreed that, for at least that one hour per week, every classroom teacher would teach more creatively in whatever curricular area they normally teach at that time.
They are supported by their school community Art Leaders, who were trained by Creating Pride in the ArtsNOW workshop. There they learned to appreciate and encourage their peers, support their administration's goals, and be a resource of creative ideas and information.
|
