Service Learning in the Art Room

This year Art Club will be involved in a Service Learning project. I decided to start Art Club later in the year due to my last sememster at Buffalo State that ends next week (Yea!). Since September, I've been reminding the 6th grade students that only serious, dedicated, hard working artists should sign up for art club this year. Happily I had 22 students sign up, and they are the most diligent workers and best behaved students in the sixth grade. We started the first meeting with a brief slide show about the kids that need our help at Women and Children's Hospital. I explained to our students that as a Lighthouse School we need to reach out to the community and give back by serving others. This year our school chose to serve the community by helping other kids, and raise money for Women and Children's Hospital. I went on to explain how Variety Club works, and that the hospital can't survive without donations from the community. Kyle immediately spoke up to tell the story of how Children's Hospital saved his life. After listening to Kyle's story, the students really began to understand how vital this hospital is to our community. Then I posed the question, "What can an art club do to help the community?" Many students shared their ideas until we all agreed to make something we can sell. I reminded them that we had no budget, so whatever we made would come from the supplies we have in the art room. We decided to make a two column chart on the Promethean asking, What can we make, and How do we sell it. The students were very enthusiastic and we filled both sides of the chart with ideas through sharing and discussion. I told the students from the beginning that I had my own idea in mind, but I wanted to see what they thought we should do first. Funny thing is, my ideas ended up right in front of me on the Promethean board. On their list under the "To Make" column was paper mache sculpture, and under the "How to Sell" column was Chinese Auction. They came up with the same ideas I had, all on their own. We reviewed all the choices and as a group decided to make large Chihuly inspired bowls out of paper mache that we can sell by silent auction on Fine Arts Night. Even though I had this idea already planned, I needed the students to come up with their own ideas so they could take ownership of the entire process. I plan on having the students not only create the vessels, but also promote, display, sell and distribute the vessels after the auction. This should be an awesome year in art club, and I'm anxious to see how it all works out.