Why Art Matters?

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 04:34:04 +0000

This year the Rio School District has made a concerted effort to develop our Visual arts programs across our eight schools. In doing so, we hired two new outstanding art teachers who are working to develop art lessons and learning with students and teachers alike. This week we will hold our first art show of the year which we hope to follow up with our end of year show in May.

There are many great thinkers who answer the question posed by by this blog. Elliott Eisner, Daniel Pink, and many others are resources to describe why integrating arts into learning is essential as well as why art for art’s sake is equally a deep human need.

From my point of view, as a graduate of a Bachelor of Fine Arts program and a life long maker and lover of art, art is a basic element of what it means to be a human being. Not having arts in schools removes this basic element and steals the opportunity for students to experience and learn about themselves and their world. Art has existed as long as there have been humans. We can look to the caves of Las Caux or Rock art of the Chumash to see human’s expressive yearnings to use visual imagery to understand and communicate their understandings of their world, themselves, and their realities.

In the last few years I have found a treasure trove of creativity in the children and teachers of the Rio School District. Integrating the Arts in our daily learning activities has promoted children’s development of 21st century practices; communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and caring. These practices are needed deeply to survive and thrive in our modern society even as they were essential for humans over the last forty thousand years of our existence. Some say, it is art, that separates us from the beasts, although I have seen some amazing artwork created by elephants and monkeys.

]]>

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 08:30:30 +0000

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American man that left teachers and students an endless legacy of learning for as long as there are schools , lessons, and the country we call the United States of America. In memory of his legacy, I often sing a song I wrote with classes as a way to talk and teach about MLK.

The lyrics go like this;

We are free free
We are free, free, free
We are free free
Thank you Martin Luther King

Black or white
Yellow, brown, red
Its not your color
Its the person instead

We are, are, are
Free!
We are, are, are
Free!

We are very proud
We sing right out loud
We are very proud
That Dr. King could help us out

We are, are, are
Free!
We are, are, are
Free!

Dr. King’s life is testament to many things in life. For students, I like to highlight what a great reader, writer, and thinker he was as well as how he lived and gave his life for the cause of Love and Peace.

MLK Day is a great day in my book.

]]>

Superintendent Blog – Rio Vista Middle School

Why Art Matters?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.