Students' creativity shines through art | The Jackson Sun | jacksonsun.com

People who question the value of art instruction (and music instruction) in school are wrong. I know that fact from experience. And this article provides a useful example.

Says Patricia Ayers, a middle school art teacher in Jackson, Tennessee:

I have been teaching art for 41 years, and I have never yet seen where art couldn’t help a child in some way. Once students feel like they can do good, they start to feel better about themselves.

Ayers has seen students who were doing poorly raise their grades after taking art classes. She says art is a great confidence better, which explains why some students have the confidence to believe they can create a masterpiece.

This article begins:

Senia Haynes said that for her, the joy of art is taking something in her life and trying to make a masterpiece out of it.

A masterpiece is an ambitious goal for a 10-year-old, but the look in Senia’s eyes was enough for anyone watching her to know she was serious.