Puffin Foundation West is so happy to work again with Special Education Teacher Bari Pollyea who is in her 20th years with Columbus Pubic and is now teaching 4th and 5th graders at Burroughs Elementary School. She has received a grant award to bring a Program of the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education entitled ARTISTS IN THE SCHOOLS. All the students at Burroughs E.S. students will be visited during the year by a host of artists that will bring important messaging to the students. This experience brings creativity into the classrooms and compliments core subject areas. The artists that the Ohio Alliance promotes each provide motivation through their unique talents and shows. Most of the 400 students at Burroughs have never experienced a live performance artist who can serve as a role model for creative and imaginative thinking. Another goal of this grant is to stimulate thinking and encourage the students to ask questions about the performances that all are designed to support the goal of life-long learning.
Zak Morgan’s performance of unique music encourages children to read, imagine, and believe in themselves; Tom Sparough, The Space Painter’s show on bullying gives tools to the students to help them recognize and respond to bullying and create an empathetic and supportive school atmosphere; the musicians of Wild Carrot will take the audience on a world tour of folk music; and Stephen Knight does Motivational Magic and deals with issues of bullying, and the importance of reading. Finally everyone knows that puppet shows are amusing, but MADCAP brings their special brand of puppeteering, as they know that arts education impacts developmental growth and increased academic performance while nurturing an artistic outlet.
