The Piedmont Highlander

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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

March Crossword Key
March 6, 2024

Arts benefit from parent-funded PAINTS

Arts benefit from parent-funded PAINTS

PAINTS, or Promote Art in the Schools, is a parent supported organization benefitting the arts and art education in Piedmont Schools.

It is a nonprofit whose mission is to support and advocate for the arts and art education. Each year, PAINTS donates money to each Piedmont school for art supplies on a per-student basis. Throughout the school year, the organization grants money to applicants for special art projects and equipment, and to teacher for professional development and arts education.

“We are a broad based organization to support charity,”  said PAINTS President and Grant Director, Hilary Davis.

The organization is funded by parent donations during registration and by the proceeds from events, mainly the Birdhouse Gala and Auction, an annual fundraiser that will be held on May 29 thie year.

At PHS, PAINTS benefits the existing art curriculum, including the AP classes and materials for the digital art portfolios used in college applications.

“PAINTS offers us things that are above and beyond what we would normally have access to,” art teacher Gillian Bailey said. “We have students working with photoshop, photography and design that we would not have had before.¨

In the last five years, PAINTS has supplied four computers, six digital cameras and peripheral items, like large drawing tablets, to support the use of digital media at the high school.

“Funding of art education is important because it is a largely consumable subject,” Bailey said. “While in Englishpaints you might buy books and be able to use them over and over again, if we buy paints or colored pencils or paper, they are consumables and will disappear.”

Art education helps students think creatively and independently and is by nature in line with the Common Core, ceramics teacher Susan Simonds said.

“Without PAINTS, my classes would be very bare bones, if they existed at all,” Simonds said. “They have supplied us with things that the district doesn’t have funds for.”

PAINTS funds the elementary school art programs by providing salary support for art specialists and ensuring 24 hours of art per year for all students. At the middle school, PAINTS supports three elective classes: Art, Film and a new Makers class to replace woodshop.

“Art students are continually working to best express themselves through their work,” Davis said. “Engaging in any art form requires perseverance, focus and dedication, as well as developing perspective and reasoning skills that can serve students well in future careers and in life.”

Davis said that art education is important because it promotes childhood development.

“In younger children, the arts promote fine motor skills, visual-spatial skills, self-confidence, and non-verbal expression,” Davis said. “Older students benefit from participation in the arts because they are forced to be creative problem solvers and innovative thinkers.”

Bailey said that in creating something original, there is a sense of owning one’s ideas and a pride and purposefulness into owning these ideas.

“Piedmont Unified is really lucky to have a kindergarten through 12th grade art program,” Bailey said. “It is almost unheard of, especially through the budget cuts of the last seven to ten years.”

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