By Weakley County Assistant Director of Schools Betsi Foster
Lately, education experts and elected officials have been discussing ways to rethink high school and beyond. The “higher-ups” are starting to realize what many of us have known for a long time: a traditional college degree isn’t for everyone. We can provide a solid foundation for a successful life in other ways: apprenticeships, technical degrees, etc. This rethinking is the right path. However, we cannot leave behind certain foundational pieces of traditional education. Those include the obvious - English, math, science, social studies, and, perhaps less obviously, the arts.
We need the arts now more than ever.
The arts include visual arts (ex. painting, architecture, photography, graphic design), literary arts (ex. fiction writing, poetry), performing arts (ex. dance, music, theater), and culinary arts (ex. cooking). For those who believe that studying the arts is unnecessary or perhaps a waste of time for older students other than those who are pursuing those careers, this could not be further from the truth.
Studying or creating art pushes a person to see the world in a different way. Students are seeing a sunset through the eyes of a painter, hearing war through the music of a symphony, feeling love through the words of a poet. Once students experience the world through the senses of another person, they learn the basic tenet of empathy.
Empathy is defined as the ability to take on another's perspective; to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. People who have empathy develop compassion, which in turn motivates them to take actions that improve situations. Take actions that improve situations. Isn’t that what it takes to be a good citizen?
In Tennessee, high school students have lots of options. They can “opt out” of taking fine arts classes. If you, as a parent, guardian, friend, or mentor, are involved with a decision like that, prevent it from happening. ALL students need the arts. Technical path students are the world’s problem-solvers; the arts will develop their creativity. Advanced academic and college path students skip out on the arts, thinking it’s a waste of their time. But a genius without exposure to music or art will miss a big chunk of what drives humanity; their voice will never be heard above someone who gets that. Even more, good art – music, stories, movies – is good for mental health. And we can all agree that we need more of that.
The American author and civil rights activist James Baldwin made this observation about the arts:
You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read…. You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important. Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important.
Weakley County Schools work hard to ensure that all students have access to the benefits that the arts provide. It’s a work in progress; we are by no means where we want to be yet. While we work to add time and opportunities for our students, they continue to impress us every day with the creativity and talent that they display, both in class and on their own time.
Some of these talents will be showcased at our upcoming Weakley County Arts Festival. The 6th annual festival will be held Saturday, April 5th at Gleason School from 11:00 to 1:30. Art winners from every school in the county will be on display for the community to see in a variety of art categories, and student musical performances will also be part of the festival. Drop by and see what these talented students have created!