Taking the Initiative

Leroy Amborn

Middle Level Rep

Advocacy and leadership in the field of education and more specifically, art education, is very important. As almost all of you are painfully aware, education has come under a sort of attack in the past few years. We are either not doing our job well enough in the eyes of some or education budgets are being dismantled to pay for other things considered to be more important by politicians. As a result, as educators we must advocate and educate the population around us about the wonderful things that we are doing for the students we teach and the communities we teach in.

One way to advocate for your art program is to get involved with your community arts initiatives or conduct exhibits and shows of student artwork in the community. In Black River Falls, we hold student art exhibits in the public library. It is a beautiful space with a large gallery like room that is open to visitors without having to enter the library space. There are also independent businesses that are open to displaying student artwork as a means to generate traffic. You can also hold a fine arts night to help promote all the arts in your school. Have the band and choir put on a concert, display student artwork in the halls, and have your technology education folks participate by showing the woodworking or welding crafts produced and created by students. You could also have your family and consumer education teacher display things created by students in those classes. This brings a wide range of parents into the building to look, listen, and learn about all the wonderful things happening in the arts in your school.

I have also been blessed to have an organization of women in town that are extremely supportive of visual arts, music, and language arts. Each year they conduct competitions in the three subject areas and award students with certificates and cash prizes for excellence in those subject areas. It would be worth your time to contact some different organizations in your community to find out if they would consider sponsoring such activities and competitions in your school. By taking the initiative to start some of these kinds of things in your schools and communities you will be taking on a leadership role advocating for your own art program.