Art classes are an essential part of education


Sophomore Lindsey Garber

Lindsey Garber, Guest Writer

Henry David Thoreau once said, “This world is but a canvas to our imagination.” This means that people are born into this world not knowing what to do and if they want to do something like art, that’s their choice and they should go through with it. The arts should be in any school so that kids have an opportunity to express themselves and be appropriately challenged at all levels.

Ever since kindergarten, people have been taught about art and how it can open one’s mind. According to the findings in an article called “Champions of Change: The impact of the arts on Learning,” if students have art it changes the learning environment. It does this because it often makes the students love learning again. Students are just tired of being fed facts and need a little brightness in their life to guide them. Arts help students get out there and challenge themselves.

Chloe Veltman, a journalist, wrote about how youth choirs are flourishing in San Francisco despite the cuts in other regions for arts education. There are about 40 independent children’s vocal ensembles in the area and many of those choirs are earning recognition for their creativity. If other school districts followed San Francisco’s lead, there would be more opportunities for young people to flourish.

There is a study which sent artists into schools to teach students and help them create their own masterpieces. The kids who took part in the program performed better on six different categories of literacy and critical thinking skills. The organizers thought that the improvements were the result of students learning valuable critical thinking skills while talking about art, which could be applied to understanding and analyzing literary materials. All of this also leads back to the thesis that art challenges children to learn and study at all levels.

Some may think that the arts don’t help people grow academically, and that it wouldn’t matter if everyone had arts in school. This is ridiculous because if people think about it the arts really does help people grow. Some people would want to come to school more often because there’s something that they actually enjoy. Also, people want it more now because it is declining.

In any school, kids should have an opportunity to express themselves and art is one of these ways. It challenges them and improves their quality of life. There should be any kind of art in school from music to drama. If people start getting into the arts, maybe they would start to be more focused and be driven to go to school more.