As I sit here at home, relaxing while my little one sleeps, I decided it couldn't hurt to enter in a few contests that have been e-mailed to me. The Classroom Project is an opportunity for art teachers to win a portion of $3,000 in classroom aide to buy supplies. How often do you purchase supplies for your art room? I know I do every month, whether it's Q-tips for another pointillism project, bobby pins for a 3-D paper plate color wheel, coffee filters to do Chihuly, or buying more acrylic paint in a color I originally thought I had enough of! So, here goes my essay as to why I feel my classroom is deserving of additional funds for supplies!
The Classroom Project: Art Room 309
This year, the need for more classroom supplies is something I have stressed about since June of last year. If you've been following my blog, you know that I went from a K-6 art teacher, teaching at 83% to a full-time, K-12 art teacher in my low-income, Title 1 district. I had to turn in supply requisitions for my high school art room blindly...the retiring art teacher wasn't out of the room in time for me to take an adequate inventory of what was there before the deadline. I am now 15 weeks into the school year, worrying about the types of art projects I can successfully complete with my high school students using the higher quality art media I believe they should be using. With the birth of my first child on November 30th, my personal funds are now going to be stretched at home.
When I was finally granted access to the high school art room, I found that a majority of the art media in the room was old and quite frankly, ruined. Tempera paint had completely separated itself in the bottles, acrylic paint was completely dried out, ceramic glazes that were rock hard...I'm sad to say that I had to throw out a lot of wasted materials and was unable to properly restock them. I have had to resort to taking materials from my elementary room to help keep the stock up in the high school room! I also found a lot of "elementary level" materials in the high school room, such as construction paper and pan watercolor paints...items I believe high school students should not be using to create fine art.
The unfortunate fact is that high school level interest in the visual arts has dwindled in my district in the past few years and it is my goal to reignite that interest in the students of my school. In order to do that, I want my students to have high quality materials to create art that they are proud of. I find that I am spending my own money on more acrylic paint, sculpting materials and mat board because I want my students to be able to display their art professionally and proudly! With the arrival of my first child, I see my ability to spend my own money on classroom supplies dwindling. Earning additional funds for my classroom through The Classroom Project would help immensely to purchase those materials I feel my high school students need to be successful as well as taking the stress of money off of my shoulders as my husband and I welcome our first child into the family!
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