Learn - Do - Teach

When our Art Division (AD) students and staff were given an opportunity to teach a week-long drawing and printmaking workshop to young learners at the Gadsden Arts Center in Quincy Florida in 2014 and 2015, we realized the importance of introducing young children to the arts and AD students to teaching. In 2014 we partnered with Para Los Niños Evelyn Gratts Primary Center (Gratts), a charter school serving underrepresented transitional kindergarten to second grade learners and created The Learn-Do-Teach (LDT) program.  
 
We provide a collaborative inquiry-based approach to lesson planning with practical, hands-on teaching opportunities. We hire four AD students and a substitute who plan units of study with experts in the field that follow the CA Visual Arts Framework with an emphasis on the elements of art. Our AD students teach weekly art lessons to 180 young learners. 
 
Children draw, paint, sculpt, and create artwork to solve visual problems, explore techniques, and play with materials. Additionally, they are exposed to artwork, art vocabulary, problem solving, critical ways of thinking, and much more. 

Eligibility:  Students must have completed the Introduction to Teaching Art to Children class and at least 2 studio art classes at Art Division, complete all required meetings and application materials; and fulfill all requirements of partner site.

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Art Division values giving back through providing art classes and experiences in the community. Through our neighborhood partnerships, our students gain paid teaching experience and professional development training while local youth and children are introduced to art and practice. 

• Teacher Training: Student teachers attend an introductory teacher training workshop series on developing lesson plans, curriculum and classroom management to prepare them for teaching. 

• Placement:  Graduates can apply to become paid student teachers placed at our two partner sites, Gratts Primary School serving immigrant kindergarten and first graders, and Alexandria House, a transitional shelter for women and children.

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