With the end of every summer comes the beginning of a new school year. It’s an exciting time for parents, but a stressful time for teachers, as they often struggle with their boards to ensure that they can provide their students with the materials to succeed. In order to help teachers this school year, We-Care.com decided to partner with AdoptAClassroom.org. This organization enables donors to find classrooms to provide a teachers and students with the funds needed to excel their curriculum and make this academic year even more enjoyable. Ready to meet our sponsored classroom?! Drumroll, please…
Not only is she a teacher, Jeanne is an artist too!
Meet Jeanne Bootz Brown. She is currently one of two art teachers at Cholee Lake Elementary, a Title 1 school located in Greenacres, Florida. To clarify, a Title 1 school is a local school district that requires supplemental funding from The U.S. Department of Education to meet the needs of at-risk and low-income students (Bright Hub Education). When asked what prompted her decision to become an educator of the fine arts, Jeanne replied, “I found visual art to be a motivating factor, a soothing comfort, and a way to express myself. I found that when I applied concepts or had a need for using a math concept, for example, in the creation of art the concept became so much more clear to me.”
“The only thing that bothered me is this,” commented Jeanne, “I wanted to reach the children before they spent many years thinking they couldn’t draw, paint, or create. As I matured into being an educator, I wanted to make a difference in the whole child, not just their artistic selves.”
When we first met Jeanne, she was eager to provide children with experiential learning opportunities and hands-on problem solving activities. She recounts a class trip to the Morikami Museum with her 5th grade class at Orchard View Elementary as being one of the most memorable performances that she has attended with her students. “My 5th graders [got] to experience a Taiko Drum Performance at the Morikami Museum! The kids had never felt a performance. We had studied Asian Art and Culture all year but nothing could prepare them to actually feel a performance, learning how to move into the beat.”
Because of YOUR shopping throughout the month of August, we were able to present Jeanne’s classroom with a check for $2,107.60 that will go towards creating more memories like this for students that may never experience them otherwise.
Jeanne had nothing but kind words for all of her students, stating, “my students have taught me so much! They have taught me the importance of clear and specific communication. They continue to teach me compassion. They remind me to take the time to figure things out for myself and to give them time as well.”
Pictured above are some of the works of students enrolled in Jeanne’s art class at Cholee Lake Elementary. They are gearing up for International Dot Day, an annual event that occurs around September 15th and celebrates the power that each of us possess to inspire creativity and change in one another. Each student was asked to make their mark on a coffee filter which then became their personal dot in the project.
Think of one purchase that you made in support of AdoptAClassroom.org last month as your personal dot. That one action helped 1,100 elementary students at Cholee Lake Elementary have better access to a fine arts education. Now what if everyone you knew would have contributed? Imagine what we could all achieve if we worked together!? Let’s use the momentum of #DotDay15 and rediscover the power that we have when we work as a unit. Share this article and encourage others to make their mark this month and in months to come.
In addition to shopping in support of AdoptAClassroom.org, you can see what other assistance teachers are requesting here.