ABSTRACT

Bellwood Elementary is driven to have children discover their own incredible abilities and talents. With art education, children are able to learn more about themselves, others, and the world in a variety of ways. Through the Beauty Created within Students (BCS) Program supported by the Fine Art Grant, Bellwood will be able to provide workshops, extracurricular classes, and activities/lessons for art classes during the school day. The program will advance students in a number of ways and begin to close current educational gaps by further engaging students, providing access to new learning opportunities, and creating a diverse and inclusive environment for the students to embrace their own strengths. Houston Education Research Consortium surveyed 42 schools on their students' engagement on social and emotional-related outcomes related to art programs. This research demonstrated that there was a decrease in disciplinary actions and an increase in writing scores and compassion for students' peers through student participation in art related programs. Bellwood Elementary aims to apply this research by employing more art programming supported by the grant funding. The BCS Program will allow students to be able to express their own creativity and imagination with a variety of platforms in the art community. Students will be able to use the opportunity for learning and participating with art as a therapy tool to overcome anxiety and self doubt, building confidence within, and growing their emotional capacity, both within themselves and with their peers. The Beauty Created within Students program at Bellwood Elementary will help in providing students a well-rounded education and developing a more inclusive view of the world.