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Arts in education
The beautiful expansion at the Miscouche school offers the space and technology students need; however, when students walked through the blank hallways, they realized something was missing.
Carrie MacLellan, a language arts and music teacher, launched an extra curricular art club with the goal of adding colour and inspiration to their learning environment.
“We wanted to create murals of Canadian icons,” said MacLellan. “The students went to work looking for quotes from famous Canadians and photos and they worked at this on every level. I just call myself the facilitator.”
The students completed research and prepared proposals during lunch hour, after school and at home. After months of work, more than a dozen colourful murals are now proudly on display in the lobby of their school. Students, parents and visitors can read inspirational quotes from famous Canadian icons while admiring works of art.
Wayne Gretzky:
“You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.”
Terry Fox:
“It took cancer to realize that being self centered is not the way to live. The answer is to help others.”
Rick Mercer:
“It’s no longer good enough for us to tell kids who are different that it’s gonna get better. We have to make it better.”
Sir John A. MacDonald:
“Let us be English or let us be French...and above all, let us be Canadians.”
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:
“To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be it yours to hold high!”
“I love painting and drawing, but I never thought it could turn out to something like this,” said Tatiania Calarco, a grade 9 student at Miscouche. “We tried our best and we wanted to make the school proud and the students proud. When they pass the hallways they can remember us for what we did, who we were and what we accomplished.”
“I feel pretty good,” added grade 9 student, Kaylee Boates. “I didn’t know I could do something like this but it all just happened. I learned that if you want to make something really good it takes a lot of time and determination to get it done. You really have to work at it.”
Ms. MacLellan says while working with students in the art club, she noticed their writing skills were improving and their confidence levels were rising.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said MacLellan. “Sometimes in education you hand something in and then you are finished. But with this, they took their work home with them, looked at it and kept working. That’s a lesson you can only get from certain skill-based activities. The problem solving skills and that desire to ‘not settle’ has been a huge lesson for them and it has been amazing to see.”
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development introduced new visual arts curricula from grades 1-12 in all schools across Prince Edward Island in 2012-2013. During the pilot, teachers found that student writing improved as they are expected to keep an art journal that reflects on their creation. What better way to attach meaning to writing than explaining ones own creations.
Education in the Arts plays a key role in the development of creativity and imagination. These skills are transferable across curriculum and help young people succeed in the future. Citizenship, communication, personal development, problem solving, and technological competence are all important aspects of a well rounded education.
“There’s no better reward for me than seeing their faces when they look around the lobby and they are so proud,” said McLellan. “There is evidence that it has improved their confidence and they have a lot of pride in their work. So, I hope they take that to high school and I hope they feel good and it gives them a better start.”
