Brownsville Area seniors expose elementary students to the arts
When Brownsville Area seniors Hannah Redman and Triston Murphy walked down the halls of Central Elementary, it was difficult for them to see a lack of student art projects hanging from the ceilings and along the walls.
But it affirmed their presence at the school.
“Elementary students don’t get exposed to the arts as much anymore,” Murphy said. “It’s not just in Brownsville, but all around the country. When I was in elementary school, there were art projects hanging in the hallways. The arts have suffered a great deal.”
Murphy and Redman researched statistics about the need for art and theater in schools and ways to encourage participation in younger grades as part of their academic English class.
Not only did they complete research, but they designed a community-service based project to coincide with their research.
“The purpose of this project is to research ways to improve our school by improving our community,” said their teacher, Rachael Salvucci. “Not only will they learn valuable research, writing and communication skills, they will also gain perspective and insight into the human, animal, or environmental condition — something that I think is lacking in our society.”
Salvucci is hoping her students discover real-world applications through this action-based research project.
“I felt like if I made it real for them they would become more invested in it,” she said.
“They are researching for a purpose.”
To fulfill the community-service portion of their final paper, Murphy and Redman made several trips to Central Elementary to expose fifth-grade students at the school to art through a series of workshops, including theater, painting, drawing and writing.
“Being involved in the arts, it’s helped us a lot in our lives,” Redman said. “Not only that, but through our research we found out that involvement in the arts helps to boost grades, and all-around involvment in the school.”
On their last visit to the school, Redman and Murphy, along with a few of their classmates, performed a version of Treasure Island.
The backdrop, painted by the fifth-graders, served as the set for the play.
Throughout the performance, they asked the children to join them on stage and help them continue the show.
“The main thing is that we wanted the kids to use their imagination,” Murphy said. “In today’s schools, imagination isn’t really present anymore. It’s all about the standardized tests.”
Murphy added that he hopes this will encourage the students to become involved in musical theater once they reach middle and high school.
Murphy and Redman, however, are not the only students in Salvucci’s class to make a difference in the community.
Other student projects included cleaning up trash in the area, planting flowers, rebuilding playgrounds, partnering with the elderly and increasing participation in youth sports, she said.
“I’ve had students complain about Brownsville, so instead of complaining, I thought let’s do something about it,” Salvucci said. “Why not encourage them to try to better the community in which they live? In this way, I think they’ll have a sense of pride in their community if they have a part in making it better.”