According to a study by the Business Committee for the Arts, students who have a strong art background perform 30% better acedemically than those who do not.  This is due, in part, to the creative thinking and analytical skills emphasized in the arts.

Source:  Why Business Should Support the Arts - Facts, Figures, and Philosophy, Business Committee for the Arts.

     Hello, and welcome to the Creative Corner at Jackson Elementary!  My name is Mrs. Donna Kirsch and I am the art teacher here at Jackson.  It is my firm belief that a good, solid art education (developmentally appropriate and sequentially taught) is a valuable part of a child's basic curriculum.  My lessons are based on the Pennsylvania Department of Education's State Standards for the Arts and Humanities (Standards Aligned System), and the National Arts Common Core, and expose students to a wide range of mediums while introducing them to basic design concepts.  Some of these mediums include pencil, marker, pastel, oil pastel, paint, paper, clay, yarn, papier mache and use of a printing press.  Skills learned using these mediums include free-hand, grid and perspective drawing, three-dimensional rendering, introduction to tempera, watercolor and acrylic painting, coil and slab techniques with clay, paper and yarn weavings, puppet and mask creations, and printmaking.  We also practice following directions, cleaning up after ourselves and creative thinking...all good things to learn! 

 Throughout the year we participate in various artshows, including the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Student Exhibition in February, and Ebensburg's Art in Bloom in April.  My students also create a Christmas Card design each year, which they then have the opportunity to have made into packs of real cards.  And finally, I have also had student art published in the annual volume, Celebrating Art.  I believe that it is my responsibility as an art teacher to provide my students with as many opportunities as possible to showcase their creativity.