GREEN DISTRICT -- Art classes no longer just merely try to teach students how to draw, paint or work with clay.
"Art was cookie-cutter and I am so glad it's not like that anymore," said elementary art teacher Kristi Wenger.
Wenger, who teaches kindergarten through fourth grade in the Green District for 11 years, said art classes have evolved from students trying to "mimic" projects teachers were presenting in class. Instead, her students at Smithville and Marshallville elementary schools are taught art lessons which are integrated with their other topics and given choices.
"It's really about teaching 21st century skills like problem solving and critical thinking," she explained and which relates to other core classes.
As an example, Wenger said second-grade students have a lesson called "travel around the world" where they are taught about different cultures. Her art project with the second-graders then involved making worry dolls or puppets.
Another similar lesson in her fourth-grade class saw the students making masks out of a variety of materials. This lesson was tied into lessons about symmetry. Students here had the opportunity to select their own materials between a variety of paper products, metal tooling or even in three dimensions.
"I don't like to do the exact same things all the time, but instead give them a choice," Wenger said. "You see some really creative things when you put the materials out on the table and the students try to use them differently."
This style of giving the students options also helps them out in other ways, as they get to teach and learn on their own by exploring different materials.
Besides integrating art class with other core classes, Wenger has done artist studies with her students where they are taught about a specific artist and their style. Students then try to work within that style for their own works.
Wenger said an artist study for kindergarten students focused on Wayne Thiebaud, who does all of his artwork centered around desserts. The students then had the opportunity to make their own clay desserts, everything from lollipops to cupcakes.
"(The students) get real excited when something works... they get so much more out of it," when they go through their own process, Wenger said, instead of just coming in and trying to make something just like their neighbor. "It's not so much doing what the person sitting (next to them) is doing and I feel like they try a little harder."
That style especially pays off at the District Art Fair in March when the elementary students see their work on display for other students and parents in the community. The fair includes an elementary fair as well where students' art pieces are framed and then sold.
"The kids feel like real artists when they sell something," Wenger said of the elementary aged children. "Just to see their work in a frame makes it so much different, like someone just gave them a million bucks... it makes them feel like real artists."
"(Wenger) works extremely well with the core teachers to implement projects that support classroom instruction," said Green's elementary principal Christine Miller. "(She) truly brings the buildings alive with student work. She does an amazing job of making it an inviting, colorful and welcoming place... students are proud of seeing their projects displayed throughout the school."
For this year's art fair, students are focusing on a variety of topics such as underwater scenes, circus themes and symbolism.
Wenger added the community response has gone really well when art pieces are displayed at the fair.
"Parents are always impressed with the creativity," Wenger said. "This district is really lucky with all of the support from parents who realize how important it is... it's not just an extra class."
Wenger's students enjoy art lessons as well. "I have a lot of kids tell me their favorite day of the week is the day they have art class."
Reporter Steve Huszai can be reached at 330-287-1645 or email@example.com. He is @GeneralSmithie on Twitter.