NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTH)V - For the last several years, education has been laser-focused on STEM classes to prepare students for the evolving world of technology. The effect though, has been the removal of arts programs from districts across the country.
THV11's Winnie Wright spent the day in North Little Rock, where that district has started putting arts back in schools to encourage good work in other classes.
"Everyone gets to express themselves in their instrument in a different way,” said eighth grader, Rosy Ausencio.
She and sixth grader, Giselle Ellington, are students in Mr. Klosy's North Little Rock Middle School strings class. For an hour each day, they get a chance to decompress, to unwind.
"I love music, so when I'm playing I can actually feel the music going through me as I play, like vibrating through me,” echoed Ellington.
This class is available thanks to a program called Arts Reconstruction created by Thea Foundation.
"There's a lack of understanding and appreciation on how important creativity and the arts are in a young person's life,” explaned Paul Leopoulos, the organization's CEO. He says they're hoping to teach districts that, while the STEM fields are important to a child's success, so are the arts.
"Young people who get involved with creativity and the arts in school are more likely to graduate from high school and college, they're more likely to read a book. They're more likely to join a social organization. They're more likely to do better in math and science," he said.
In the last decade or so, many districts across the country have started cutting their arts programs. Klosky says North Little Rock got rid of its strings program nearly 60 years ago and didn't start reincorporating it into the curriculum until about 4 years ago.
"They've become more focused. Like in the sixth graders, going through the eighth graders, they focus more. Slowly but surely, they realize if they think about a particular subject long enough and hard enough, they become more involved in it,” Mr. Klosky said.
"Anything where they get to explore their creativity will help in the other areas of education,” said Karla Whisnant. She is the parent of a strings student, and also the principal of NLRHS's Center of Excellence, a Stem-Centered charter program. She says the proof is in the results.
"Once you start that ball rolling, there's no stopping it. Once they become more comfortable with what they're doing, that succes will breed success in other classrooms," she said.
For the kids, it's about expressing themselves. For the parents, it's about their future. But for Mr. Klosky, it's something else altogether.
"I find such great joy in seeing these children play. It brings tears to my eyes. To see them grow, it's marvelous,” the teacher said with a tear and a smile.
The Arts Reconstruction program is limited to Central Arkansas right now, but Thea hopes to expand it further in the future. If you're interested in bringing the Arts Reconstruction program to your school, contact the Thea Foundation.