The students at St. John's Catholic School recently spent three days working with local artists learning about theater, dance, poetry and songwriting.
Songwriter Chana Caylor, theater director Lanie Carlson, dancer Kathleen Marleneanu and poet Kai Coggin were brought to the school by Arkansas Learning Through the Arts.
Craig Welle, executive director of Arkansas Learning Through the Arts, said this was the second year the program has brought artists to St. John's. Joining him was Matt Boyce, Arts In Education program manager with Arkansas Heritage.
"We're a nonprofit that's located here in Hot Springs and we provide these kinds of artists to a lot of different schools," Welle said, "now starting in the Delta." The program started at other schools in 2013.
"It's very interesting because what a lot of our teachers tell us is that students wake up in certain instances. Students who have not been really engaged, all the sudden when we bring in a poet they perk up or when we bring in a dancer, they perk up, or when they're involved/engaged in music, they perk up, so what the arts are really good at doing is engaging kids, and our focus is on literacy so all of our programs have some kind of literacy focus," Welle said.
"We think the arts are a great way to ... get kids reading and to help them comprehend when they are reading," he said. "As I go around and see the work in different schools, I see us getting kids engaged in literacy and through different ways."
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Boyce, who started his position in January, said he was impressed with what he saw at the school.
"I came in when Omicron was kind of a little bit of an issue for the state," he said, noting the program manager typically goes around the state and views all the programs, meets artists, executive directors, gets to know the organizations and what they're doing and "the great work they are doing in the schools."
St. John's was the seventh school he has visited since he began.
"This program's pretty unique actually, having four artists all in the building at one time is something I have not seen yet -- I'm not saying it hasn't been done before -- but this is the first time that I'm seeing it," Boyce said.
"I think it's really great. The kids are just learning so many different art forms. It's almost like a camp," he said.
"Not every kid's going to like poetry, but they're going to maybe like dance or they'll like theater and I think it's a really unique experience for them to get to do all these things basically all day for three days, so it's very cool," Boyce said.
"One of the things one of the teachers told is that they were really looking forward to it this year, that they learned a lot last year and they had a great experience and they look forward to it, so it's becoming a bit of something kids look forward to," Welle said.
"I think, especially in something like the poetry, the more they do it, the more comfortable they become, and I see some of that," Welle said, adding that he expects the program to continue with the school in the future.
Prior to COVID-19, the program had been in numerous Garland County schools, he said.
"During COVID, we had a hard time getting back in schools, and so we are now (expanding). We were in three schools first semester, we're in 17 schools second semester, so it's really picking up," Welle said.
"At one point we've been in every school in Garland County and we aren't quite back in all of them yet because they're still kind of getting over the protocols for COVID and that kind of thing, but we're really looking forward to getting back in to all the schools in Garland County, and I think we will," he said.
"I think it's important to expose kids to the arts for many reasons," Boyce said.
"One, for their creative outlets, their emotional needs, their social needs, expression. Arts is not just an extracurricular activity, it's a part of our everyday life and kids need to understand and learn that, even listening to the radio or just reading a book, everything in the world around us is related to art and I think it's experiencing, especially at a young age, it opens a lot more opportunities for them later in life," he said.
The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton /caption: Poet Kai Coggin talks with a student at St. John's Catholic School during a session where she was teaching a poetry class for first and second graders. - Photo by Tanner Newton of The Sentinel-Record
The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton /caption: Matt Boyce, left, Arkansas Heritage Arts In Education Program Manager, and Craig Welle, executive director of Arkansas Learning Through The Arts, visit St. John's Catholic Church. - Photo by Tanner Newton of The Sentinel-Record