Art program seeks to raise confidence, bolster curriculum through creativity

A schoolwide art program at Evergreen Elementary began at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year by drawing out confidence in the student body.

Developed over the summer by Tawney Crowley, the social-emotional learning model helps kids from kindergarten through fifth grade express themselves, even if it's a struggle.

"Between Jenn Miller-Yancey and I, we both since the summer knew we wanted to do more than just arts and crafts," Crowley said. "We definitely shared this vision that everybody has this ability to create inside them."

Crowley, a local artist, often uses herself as an example of how the creative process works.

"A lot of the kids know I'm not good at everything," she said. "I want to pass along the confidence to not focus on what they can't do and focus on what they can, embracing what they struggle with. We don't need to avoid the struggle."

Though the program, which meets biweekly for every grade level, allows students to be creative, it also focuses on the curriculum each class is being taught.

When Brian Merritt's fourth grade class was learning about human anatomy, Crowley took the opportunity to have the class work in pairs to create realistic looking X-rays.

"We looked at samples of X-rays. What do they look like? Not like photos," Crowley said. "There are shades of blue and white. Students used colored pencil on construction paper."

Each team chose an X-ray based on body parts they could correctly identify, then planned how they wanted to lay out the replicated X-ray, making it look as real as possible.

"It turned out really cool," Crowley said. "When you kind of glance at them, you can tell they're not real X-rays, but you can tell what's going on."

Since beginning the program, assistant principal Miller-Yancey said there have been measurable outcomes through an increase in accolades and a decrease in disciplinary means.

"(Before) they were very unmotivated to even be in school. Now they're begging, 'When is that (art) class,'" she said. "We have positive office referrals in our school versus think sheets, which is the flip side of it. Think sheets are when you're doing those undesirable behaviors. Last month, for example, we had 203 positive office referrals announced over the P.A., and we zero think sheets. The month before we had two think sheets and 189 positive office referrals."

Since Crowley is out on maternity leave for the remainder of the school year, long-term substitute teacher Tracey Martin has taken over the class. Though she admits to not being an artist herself, Martin always used art during her career as a full-time teacher.

"I always integrated art into all my subjects: math, science, reading, everything, because it's so important," she said. "Integration is so important."

The latest assignment that Martin's fifth graders are tackling fits right in with building confidence, as it has them focus on positive attributes about themselves, creating a visual image that incorporates a mantra of sorts.

"Art is fantastic for social-emotional learning because there's problem solving, following directions, dealing with disappointment," Martin said. "There are so many elements in art and creating art that relates to social-emotional learning. It also gives kids an outlet for self-expression, especially during this time when kids are so stressed."

Miller-Yancey said she couldn't be happier with how the program is working out.

"This program for us ended up being the icing on the cake and the cherry on top," she said.