First class UMaine students lead after-school art program for area children

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Most days, Carnegie Hall at the University of Maine is filled with college-age art students who are busy making prints in the basement, viewing slides, and learning about watercolors and oils upstairs. Come Friday afternoon, things start to look a little different.

A handmade sign on the door reads “ART WORKS” in brightly colored marker. It welcomes visitors to the otherwise staid granite building – and most of those visitors are under the age of 12. They arrive in a flurry, parents in tow, and then they’re off to the art history classrooms and painting studios.

But there’s a twist: Those college students who spend the rest of the week at their desks are now at the front of the class, leading an after-school program for area children.

For the under-12 set, ArtWorks is an outlet for their budding talent. For the undergrads, it’s a pivotal link between textbook knowledge and practical application – not quite student teaching, but a preview of what’s to come.

“It gives them a little bit of a taste of what their internship will be like,” said Constant Albertson, the art education professor who supervises the program. “We try to keep it as realistic as possible. It’s not intended to be a baby-sitting situation. It’s a learning situation.”

And the learning goes both ways – especially in this portion of the two-semester program. In years past, the class sizes have ranged from three to 22 pupils, but this spring, all of the available slots are full.

“When we have a lot of students come, that’s a more realistic classroom setting,” student Jennifer Green said.

Green worked in a school for three years before pursuing her art education degree at UMaine, and considers ArtWorks “a teaser,” because she can’t wait to work with children again. She said the program builds the confidence of future teachers by giving them the freedom to build a curriculum and make their own decisions with Albertson’s guidance.

“I do think it’s nice to have the supervision of the professor,” Green said. “She gently guides you. It helps you become a little more critical of how you’re performing.”

The students also critique each other. On a recent Friday, Emily Morris, 23, stood in front of a group of pupils in kindergarten and first grade. Potted tulips, daffodils and houseplants were spread out before her for the day’s project – a handmade book about the growing process. In the back of the classroom, her classmate Jennifer Parady quietly took notes, while Stephanie Raddish videotaped the session.

“What did we talk about last week?” Morris asked the group.

“Changing!” a few pupils yelled out.

Morris turned to the chalkboard and wrote “CHANGE.” Then she turned to the children and pointed out the window to the rainy sky.

“What does that rain help grow in spring and summer?” she asked.

Eagerly, the children raised their hands: “Flowers,” one said. “Trees,” “Aminals,” “Grass!”

As Morris wrote each of their answers on the board, Parady turned to Raddish and whispered that she was having a hard time finding anything to criticize. She admits she has the same problem when she’s at the front of the class.

“I’ll think I did awesome, then, a couple of days, I’ll think of what I could’ve done better,” Parady said, smiling.

Parady, 28, earned a few degrees at UMaine before returning for the one she really wanted. She has successfully run an after-school art program in Newport, taught classes at the Bangor Art Studios, and worked as a substitute teacher, so she knows what she’s getting into.

For students who don’t have extensive experience working with children, ArtWorks can be invaluable. It not only gives them a chance to thrive, it also provides a safe place to confront challenges as well.

“Just to be a teacher, you can’t walk into a classroom and expect things to go smoothly,” said Gregory Boom of Monmouth, a fourth-year art-ed student.

In the fall, Boom worked with sixth-graders, but this semester he and his partner, Nikki Higgins, have been assigned a group of second-graders with “an attention span of five seconds,” he says, only half-joking. This is his first real teaching experience, and he said the younger group requires a bit more attention than the middle-schoolers.

“It’s hard to maintain a good learning environment,” Boom said.

On the surface, running an after-school art session may seem like fun, and it is – but not always. The hurdles are an essential part of the program, which can often make or break students.

“One of the nice things about ArtWorks is sometimes people discover they really, really don’t want to teach children,” Albertson said. “It gives them the opportunity to readjust.”

Conversely, some of the children, who may have been enrolled in the program because their parents wanted them to be, may discover a hidden love for art. That’s the hope of Bill Palmer of Orono, whose wife signed their son Jacob up for ArtWorks after a friend suggested it. Jacob was a little reluctant at first, but “he didn’t come out screaming,” Palmer said, laughing.

“We home-school, so we try to expose the children to a lot of different things to find out if they have any interest – something that they may not have known they were interested in,” Palmer said. “We’re happy to have the opportunity to expose them to it.”

For pupils with a strong interest in art, the program provides a chance to explore their talent further. Derek Gardner of Lincoln, a sixth-grader at Mattanawcook Junior High School, is particularly gifted in drawing, so his mom signed him up for ArtWorks. He has thrived.

“It made his self-esteem a little bit higher – it gave him a little more confidence,” Jeannine Gardner said. “I think it’s great because it’s showing my son what he has to look forward to. It’s not just going to school and drawing. He can actually go to school and help other children learn in the long run.”

Laura Tozer of Orono, whose daughter is in the fourth grade, loves the idea of students teaching students.

“I think that’s great,” Tozer said. “They may remember what they did, and kids relate well with other young people.”

Because ArtWorks isn’t as structured as a traditional classroom curriculum, many pupils love the freedom that the program affords. For home-schooler Laura Falls, 11, and her friends Janelle Legere, 9, and Laura Noddin, 10, both pupils at Lewis S. Libby School in Milford, ArtWorks is not only a chance to socialize and have fun after school, it’s also a chance to explore new ideas.

“I like learning new art stuff,” Falls said. “You get to do more.”

“In art class, everybody has to do the same thing at the same time,” Noddin said.

“In here you can be different,” Legere added.

ArtWorks is full for this semester, but a five-week session is planned for the fall, and several scholarships are available for children with a financial need. For more information, contact Connie Albertson at 581-3251. Kristen Andresen can be reached at kandresen@bangordailynews.net.