Help get us past the frustration and into the creation. With the expansion of our school, we have added a considerable amount of early childhood and high level special needs students that need extra equipment to help them feel successful.
We are part of a large urban district in the state of Massachusetts.
My students are a mixture of cultures, economics, religions, and ethnicities. Our students now range in age from 3 to 15 and their skills are as varied. Recently, we expanded our early childhood and special needs populations. Their love of art is absolutely inspiring and my class is often the favorite in the building.
My Project
With a die cutting machine, I can help students with a lack of fine motor skills integrate their work into large collaborative murals and presentations. Often, these students, when faced with hanging or combining their work with others, feel frustrated that their work is not as "polished" as other students. By providing students with a clear, shaped surface to work on, our collage, painting, and various explorations have a finished look that allows students to overcome their fear that their work will not equally compare with other students' work. This piece of equipment will free many students from frustrations and allow them to explore more mark-making techniques within boundaries that they find safe and exciting.
As an art teacher in an urban school, I am constantly required to think creatively and scavenge any materials I can to help students.
Unfortunately time is not something I can find or have donated, and I do not have the time to precut shapes. In past schools I have had the luxury of working with a die cutter and was delighted to find that having precut working surfaces for this many students was the tool that allowed many students to explore their creativity within safe boundaries.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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