This year the high school arts teachers are doing art class differently. Last year while trying to find a way to keep the students involved while doing online school, the art teachers found an article on the TAB called “The Child Is The Artist”. The whole idea of the article was to get the students to feel more involved and more passionate about the art they are creating by letting students choose what they want to do. 

In the article, Leo Mullner, the Director of K-12 Visual Arts at Acton Boxborough Regional School District, noted the impact of student choice by writing, “Teachers and administrators have observed huge increases in engagement and big decreases in behavior issues. All with no loss of skill development. Done are the factory style classrooms 30 students create identical collages. Instead, creativity has blossomed as never before.” 

During the first six weeks of school, the arts students were rotating through 2D, 3D, ceramics, and photography. Lee Ann Harrison is one of the three arts teachers this year. Harrison has been teaching for nine years. She started to provide more choice in art class because she believes that it’s better for the students to get more involved in what they’re doing and to be more passionate about the arts. “We just wanted our studios used,” Harrison shared. “We wanted the materials out in the students’ hands; we never wanted to say no.” However, Harrison admitted, “It’s hard as a teacher. [Managing choice in class] is complex.” 

At first, not all students loved the rotations. 

“I want the time necessary to make all the things I want to make,” Zoe Washburn, a sophomore, shared. “For it to be broken up like this it’s really hard and not what I was expecting and all around disappointing.”

“So far, it’s kind of doing a lot of stuff which I personally don’t like because I don’t want to do ceramics or 3D arts,” Aaron Alcamo said. “I signed up for studio arts.” 

After the six weeks passed, students got to choose which of those art concentrations they wanted to do. It took a while for the students to get settled into the new arts approach, but when the students did, they quickly changed their minds.

“I enjoy art more now that I’ve settled into what I want to do,” Alcamo said. “I also like that now I get to do what I want.”

Zoe Washburn agrees. “I’m glad the six weeks are over, and I can start doing my own thing in ceramics,” Washburn said. “I like being able to do the art that I chose. I understand the way that they are doing art more, and I feel better about it.” 

Overall the art changes have been a huge success, and there is hope that they will continue to the same thing next year.