did you have art and music in school?

[mopinko]

36. my kids-

the neighborhood school is pretty good. it was badly overcrowded, but opened a new addition just when my 2 youngest started there. a well run cps school in a very diverse hood.

they had the hardest working art teacher in the city. 800 kids, and she saw every one of them once a week for 8 yrs. she had a nice art room, and had an after school club for older kids. she had a minimal budget so she fundraised. her big thing was ‘masterpiece tshirts’. had the art club paint master paintings on tshirt and auctioned them off in a big event. she raised a lot of money too. her hubs was in the movie biz. he’s the drummer in the band in groundhog day. he brought the stars. 1 yr mel gibson paid $1k for 1.
it was a ‘school of international studies’, every year picking a country, and integrating it into every subject. she relished that program. always so good.
1 yr she did a whole year about a mural in the school. mary mahoney griffiths. the brains behind flw’s prairie style. all that stained glass? the furniture? pretty sure more her than him. anyway, she’s from the hood, and did a delightful mural of fairies. it was a thing w her. the place was awash in little fairies from 1st gr tissue paper to elaborate art club 1s. they also got a lesson in how women are erased in history, and the kids helped get a beach renamed for her. right down the street from me.

the music teacher was the 1 w the cart. once a week. 4th gr up had a band. it was during the school day, and it cost a fair $$. plus most of the kids had to rent instruments which wasnt cheap. we could afford to buy them. there were only a doz or so kids, and they were somehow responsible for the work in the class they werent in.
my son was the 1 who rly needed it. it was 1+ class a week where he wasnt using his butt more than his head. but he hated it. it was the same deal for the gifted programs. pull outs, where you’re still supposed to do the homework. and the pullouts were mostly crap. he quit and i couldnt talk him out of it. even tho he has an undeniable gift.

so the new teach said- give me the band. the school did have some instruments they lent to kids who couldnt afford the rentals. a doz maybe. she wrote a grant to vh1, got $20k, and bought herself a band. this was about the time my kids graduated. another reason i should poke my head in.

i think the art/music competition was great.