By Elda Pineda, Senior Education & Programs Manager
In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Day, we’d like to offer you:
The Top 10 Reasons Why We Love Our P.S. ARTS Teaching Artists!
10. They are made of magic. When you step into their classrooms, you’re transported into a world where anything is possible. Visual Arts Teaching Artists have the power to turn mistakes into happy accidents. Theater Teaching Artists know how to make second graders into bears, princesses, and planets. Music Teaching Artists wave a mallet and turn a handful of plastic recorders into a recognizable song. Magic!
9. They are purple, spotted, 20-foot unicorns. Or might as well be! A passionate, intelligent, joyful, skilled Teaching Artist is incredibly difficult to find and we’re lucky enough to work with over 40 of them!
8. They are talented artists. We’re always awed when we see one of our colleagues in a play, visit a Teaching Artist’s art show, or hear them play live music. We, and our students, are in the presence of artistic genius every single day.
7. They have the hardiest immune systems known to man. Some of our Teaching Artists see over 500 students each week and during the flu and cold season, that’s 500 chances to get sick. But somehow, Teaching Artists manage to dodge flying viruses and show up to work nearly every day.
6. They can turn garbage into gold. Hand a Teaching Artist a cardboard tube, an empty box, or plastic water bottle and voila! You suddenly have a scepter for a king, a drum, and a Dale Chihuly-inspired sculpture. How? See #10.
5. Teaching Artists are excellent tour guides. Our students have the chance to explore a variety of countries and cultures all around the world, all without leaving the classroom. This year, our program theme is “Exploring Our Dreams, Expanding Our Universe” – our Teaching Artists even lead tours through outer space!
4. Teaching Artists can stop time. That’s the only possible explanation for how they manage to pass out papers, give a lecture, spot an eraser that’s about to be thrown, encourage a young artist, clean up spilled paint, find a missing marker cap, and set up for the next class… all at the same time.
3. Students can see the best versions of themselves when they look through our Teaching Artists’ eyes. Our Teaching Artists fiercely believe that every child has a story to tell, a point of view to express, and an innate creativity. Our motto is, We have the freedom to imagine. We have the power to create. Our Teaching Artists live and breathe this idea in every lesson.
2. They work really, really, REALLY hard. Need an example? Full-time Teaching Artists teach Kinder through fifth grade. That’s six levels of VAPA standards-based curriculum to write, 25-30 classes per week, plus professional development, community events, and the million and one other things teachers do because they love their students.
1. The number one reason we love our Teaching Artists? There would be no P.S. ARTS without them.
To the Teaching Artists of P.S. ARTS, we want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU for all the work that you do, your dedication to your students, and the magic you bring to your classrooms. The world is a better place because of you.
