The Arts and Education Council has awarded 18 area schools with grants to support classroom-based art projects during the 2021-2022 academic year. The Arts and Education Fund for Teachers, administered by the Arts and Education Council, is supported by the Arthur and Helen Baer Foundation and Employees Community Fund of Boeing St. Louis with additional support provided by individual donors. These grants will provide meaningful arts education opportunities for youth at all grade levels. With these grants, the Arts and Education Council has distributed over a quarter of a million dollars to nearly 100 schools for art education across the bi-state region since 2009.

“We’re thrilled to provide this critical support to more educators than ever before,” shared Arts and Education Council Manager of Grants and Programs Jessireé Jenkins. “Not only does arts education bring joy into classrooms, but it also has the power to transform education both by improving learning of core curriculum and by teaching 21st century skills like collaboration and critical thinking.”

Schools receiving Arts and Education Fund for Teachers grants during the 2021-2022 academic year are (in alphabetical order):

Adams Elementary (St. Louis, Mo.) Trip to Africa will bring teaching artist and arts integration specialist Shanina Carmichael into the classroom to provide traditional West African Dance instruction; a storytelling experience, introduction to West African instruments; and a song taught in Susu.

Berkeley Intermediate (Berkeley, Mo.) Help Keep Music Alive will replace and repair instruments so that students can play an instrument and perform during their winter and spring concerts.

City Garden Montessori School (St. Louis, Mo.) Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain will bring arts integration specialist Shanina Carmichael into the school for in-classroom arts integration teacher training sessions featuring West African Arts (Storytelling, Song, Dance and Drum).

Fairview Elementary (Jennings, Mo.) – The Saint Louis Art Museum trip makes it possible for students to attend a three-day intensive museum experience to view and create art that would not otherwise be possible due to the district not having a bus system.

Grand Center Arts Academy (St. Louis, Mo) Fashioneering is a collaboration with Caleres (formerly Brown Shoe Company) during which students will work through a shoe design competition while meeting professional designers and learning about design career paths.

Highland Elementary (St. Louis, Mo.) Highland Guitar expands the current music curriculum by providing a classroom set of guitar for students to learn classical guitar.

Larimore Elementary (Spanish Lake, Mo.) DIY Ukulele STEAM Project makes it possible for students to design and build a ukulele utilizing step by step instructions in conjunction with St. Louis Classical Guitar. Students will also design and paint their hand-built instruments.

Little Flower (Richmond Heights, Mo.) Holy Week Rugs will be made by students, in recognition of the Semana Santa Easter Festival where alfombras (carpets) are created on the streets with colored sawdust, sand, etc. in Antigua, Guatemala on Holy Thursday every year.

Maplewood Richmond Heights Early Childhood Center (Maplewood, Mo.) – The Collaborative Clay Creation project will provide an opportunity for students to create a collaborative ceramic piece inspired by American artist Sam Falls. Students will travel to Laumeier Sculpture Park to see the artist’s work, be inspired by nature and collect natural materials for use in the final collaborative piece.

Meramec Heights Elementary School (Arnold, Mo.) The Orffestra will teach students music concepts and skills through the Orff Schulwerk music instructional approach to improve their music proficiency and meet state and national music standards while also developing collaboration, critical thinking, innovation and cultural awareness.

North Point High School (Wentzville, Mo.) Shakespeare Festival will be a culmination of the 9th grade students’ unit on Shakespeare works including “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”. The festival will involve small performances of select scenes, an Elizabethan feast, strolling musicians, living chess, Elizabethan games, a puppet show, face painting, fortune telling and more.

Northview High School (Florissant, Mo.) Creative Service Learning is a student-led activity where Northview high schoolers will design, market and make school spirit wear clothing using the fundamentals of character education. The proceeds from the project are used to purchase hygiene product kits that are assembled and distributed to local homeless shelters.

Pershing Elementary (University City, Mo.) In My Pershing Elementary Garden provides an opportunity for kindergarteners to explore literacy, storytelling and life cycles through creative movement with teaching artists from Metro Theater Company. The project will culminate in a field trip to Metro Theater Company’s production of “In My Granny’s Garden”.

Rebecca Boone Elementary (Truesdale, Mo.) – The Care Day program, which is designed to provide scare for children while school is not in session due to their four-day school week, will explore STEAM-based activities with the students, including activities like a paint pouring experience.

STEAM Academy Middle School (Hazelwood, Mo.) Students will be able to access woodwind and brass instruments that they can rent from the school, creating a more equitable learning environment.

Shaw Visual & Performing Arts Elementary (St. Louis, Mo.) Hip Hop Nutcracker, a contemporary dance spectacle set to Tchaikovsky’s timeless music, will be performed by kindergarten through fifth grade students.

Wedgewood 6th Grade Center (Florissant, Mo.) Electrify Our Strings will provide students with access to electric violins, violas and cellos to experiment in class on and use in various performances throughout the school year. HBCU Drumline Experience provides an opportunity for students to have an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) experience through the medium of a Drumline ensemble.

Willow Brook Elementary School (Creve Coeur, Mo.) The Embracing Community Mural will enhance Willow Brook’s busiest hallway with painted words to engage students in their school community, providing joy and inspiration for years to come.

The Arts and Education Fund for Teachers provides educators a unique funding opportunity to support creativity in the classroom. Applications were reviewed by a volunteer grant panel made up of the Arts and Education Council’s Grants and Programs Committee.

To keep meaningful arts experiences happening for students throughout the bi-state region, make a gift to the Arts and Education Council today.

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