"Burning Moms" on Fire to Change Schools

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Power of ONE can move mountains. Meet Spike Dolomite Ward, the founder and director of Arts in Education Aid Council. Her passion to have art for her own kids in school has inspired her to bring art to as many San Fernando Valley students as possible. I work at one of those schools. She's positively impacting thousands of young lives with the kind of education they crave.

Spike is one of those "burning moms," a group of moms on fire to change LAUSD's culture and assault on the arts. In fact, these moms -- under the tutelage of radio personality Sandra Tsing Lo -- have created a support/activist group. They are also planning their second Million Mom March to the state capitol in June. Art educators -- art lovers -- support them!

Meet some moms who are fired up:

http://www.twcsocalnews.com/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=26&task=videodirectlink&id=1443

(if you look closely, there's shot of some of my student artwork -- a San Fernando Valley still life)

http://www.955klos.com/Article.asp?id=634993&spid=24579

The Power of One

A New Year's resolution for all of you art education supporters would be to do something tangible to save or support our favorite topic at this blog. Now! You can make a financial donation to your favorite arts organization, even sign a petition of outrage over LAUSD's freezing of art funds and art teacher salaries in December until our governor signs a budget (which a month later has still not happened!). Or you can do as Spike Dolomite Ward has done, and go out and secure grant money and give it back to your school to maintain any shred of an art program it has left.

I first heard of Spike in a chance comment made by one of my favorite local NPR commentators, Sandra Tsing Loh. She happened to mention that Spike was busy trying to save art in San Fernando Valley public schools. Whoa! I wanted to meet this woman, and through a variety of twists and turns found her in a closet-sized office in Canoga Park distributing funds she'd raised herself to a couple hundred schools!!!

Spike started off like a lot of moms of little kids entering LA public schools -- she was totally shocked to discover that her kindergarteners' school did not have an art program. And this in the most creative city anywhere, where there are great-paying jobs for those trained in the arts. Being an artist, Spike volunteered in her son's classroom...which spilled over to other classrooms. You know how volunteers are when they're passionate about something. They give!

After a couple of years, Spike found herself making a promise to the school principal -- she'd fund an art program the next year. Spike had been paying for her own supplies when she taught her own classes. Now she'd really put herself on the line. What a daunting prospect: where was she going to get the money for every class, and an art teacher?? She needed at least $14,000 she figured, and it wasn't coming from her grocery money.

Operating out of her garage at first, she did it! In fact, after nine years, she's secured support from something like 30 organizations and foundations. And you have to realize, she's doing this for other peoples' kids. She gives the money for cultural field trips, music lessons, and art supplies free to 200 schools. She funds full-time programs at five elementary schools for students who would not have access to any of it. We're talking about an individual school program that costs around $100,000 a year. All given free!

Don't you think your PTA could at least do that for the children of your own school?

There are another 195 elementary schools in the San Fernando Valley waiting for an art program.

If Spike Dolomite Ward thinks it can be done, then why not join her? A contribution to her arts organization would be an outstanding New Year's art resolution, don't you think? "Arts In Education Aid Council" says it all. I promise the money goes to a good cause. I should know, I now teach in one of the schools Spike supports. You could supply paint and paper and tangibly touch a child's soul.

Here's your New Year's good deed: read all about www.aieac.org and make a donation.

And if you want to help urge the Los Angeles school board to rescue what little is left of the arts programs in LAUSD schools, here's that link. Sign the petition right now. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/restore-funding-for-lausds-arts-partners

Girls Need Drawing to Express Themselves

In the last post, I talked about why boys need to have at least some of their school subjects presented in hands-on, authentic, creative ways. Well, girls need this too, of course. But their needs are quite different.

Letting kids draw during the school day activates their entire thinking process. Drawing is the way children think. They naturally draw as small children. Little kids are happy drawing. They don't make judgements about the quality.

But around age ten - twelve, all kids need instruction to help them do what they want to do -- draw more realistically to express their maturing ideas. Drawing becomes a struggle for some because they compare themselves to competent peers or adults. This seems to be a human development stage. Kids need help getting over the hurdle. How this was handled in your case probably still reverberates deep down. I've found this to be especially true for women decades later. A negative experience in art has lasting power because it hits the core.

Girls need art instruction because they don't tend to draw the things that boys do. They get stuck drawing such symbols as hearts, rainbows, and flowers. Ask any 4th or 5th grade teacher. It's universal. I was really struck by this when my daughter -- who always had lots of art opportunity in her experience -- started drawing those same cliches. They looked just like the ones I was doodling in sixth grade.

Around that time, a lot of girls start closing down -- either covering up their drawings or not drawing at all unless forced to do so like making a poster or report. They can see that their work doesn't measure up. This is especially hard on girls who have the rest of school mastered. They feel inadequate. The solution is not to cut out art. Duh! Girls need systematic instruction and encouragement.

Here's an article I wrote with simple art and teaching creativity ideas for teachers and parents. The publication is from Arts in Education Aid Council (AEAC). Look for "Welcome Back to the New School Year":

http://www.chatsworthchamber.com/attachments/f59/30d1221871470-2008-aeac-fall-volume-9-issue-1-aeac_vol9-issue1_r4_final.pdf