Winter Newsletter | December 2016
Happy holidays! We can't thank you enough for helping ARCK this year. Since the start of the school year, we've taught over 200 students at the Blackstone Innovation School and Gardner Pilot Academy, and even launched a pilot program in a classroom for students with multiple disabilities. We're excited to continue the momentum you've helped us build into 2017 and beyond. Read on to find out how your support is enriching kids' learning experiences through arts integration.

 
Did You Know?
The overarching theme for ARCK's curriculum this year is Environmental Issues. Students are repurposing used materials through their artwork, connecting with environmental advocacy groups in Boston, and learning about local causes and effects of climate change. As always, we align our art lessons with content and skills being taught in the classroom. 
 
Diverse Materials, Multifaceted Makers
Students in all grade levels are almost finished with their "My Roots" projects, a mixed-media exploration of identity and background that is part of our Leadership module. This project is inspired by artist Radcliffe Bailey, who uses environmental materials such as Georgia red clay, seawater, and his own DNA in his works that explore themes of ancestry, race, and memory. Like Bailey's artworks, students' pieces include black and white photographs relating to their cultures as well as colorful layers of paint. Seventh grade students at Gardner Pilot Academy (GPA) incorporated original "I Am From" poems -- written during their humanities class -- into their artwork. 
GPA 7th grade "My Roots" projects from Module 1: Leadership

Closeup of a student's project.

(You can support this project and others by donating to our CrowdRise fundraiser!)
 
Coming Up: Designing for Environmental Challenges
In the upcoming modules on Civic Engagement and Social Justice, students will combine learning about environmental issues with creating art through design and engineering-based projects. For our first lesson, Mapping Gas Leaks, they will use data provided by local nonprofits Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and Mothers out Front to identify locations of major gas leaks in their communities. Students will also learn about toxic waste in Boston and in the oceans as part of subsequent projects, ultimately leading up to a project where they'll design solutions to these issues.

Curious about what else your donations are going toward? See here. 
 
Reaching Differently-Abled Students
This year, we piloted an arts integration program in a classroom for students with multiple disabilities at Blackstone. It's been a success! Students are exercising their agency by having the opportunity to choose between different colors, forms, and tools when making their art projects. This fits well with the goals of our Leadership module, in which students explore who they are and celebrate their personal strengths. At the end of each lesson, the teacher holds up each student's artwork for all to see.
Student artwork from a superhero-themed project.
How Can I Help?
We'd love to count on your support this holiday season. Your contribution will go directly toward funding our in-school, high-quality arts integration programs for K-8 students in the Boston Public Schools. We also accept in-kind donations of art supplies. 

 
 
 

We're also registered for:
 
At no extra cost to you, 0.5% of your eligible purchase prices go to ARCK.
 
Special Thanks to our Sponsors:
   

We would also like to thank:
Friends of Blackstone School
EdVestors BPS Arts Expansion Fund 
Orville W. Forté Charitable Foundation
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36 Bromfield Street, Suite 301, Boston, MA 02108 * 857-265-2156