Art educates the whole child. From music to painting, students are able to express themselves through the arts. A handwritten poem on a colored American flag and a collage of the continents are among the artwork currently displayed at SCORE’s offices.
The Tennessee Arts Commission was recently awarded over $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education through an Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination grant. Funds were used for Arts360°, a whole-school instructional model that makes arts-based and arts integrated learning a focal point of the curriculum across subjects. Twelve creative examples of this learning style now add color to the walls at SCORE.
Arts360° is focused in Knox County Schools partly due to Mooreland Heights Elementary’s implementation of a similar program in previous years. As Knox County Schools’ Superintendent Jim McIntyre has said, “the arts are an important part of a well-rounded education for children, and this initiative helps benefit student learning in all subject areas.” With the theme of “our world,” students from Gap Creek Elementary, Green Magnet, Mount Olive Elementary, and New Hopewell Elementary, as well as Mooreland Heights Elementary used different mediums of art to create their pieces.
Programs like Arts360° will help prepare the next generation of Tennesseans to be more well-rounded students, better prepared community leaders, and fully engaged citizens.
Amber Baker, New Hopewell Elementary, 4th grade
David Murray and Riley Beeler, Mooreland Heights, 4th grade
Madison Allen, Mt. Olive Elementary, 4th grade
