A creative teacher and local artist join forces, inspire kindergartners to paint

Contributed by Lenoir County Public Schools

It was a beautiful mix –kindergarten teachers at Northwest Elementary School, some 60 of their students, volunteers from the school faculty and the community, a local artist, a grant award to buy supplies like canvas boards and acrylic paint and the enthusiasm of the little artists.

The result of that creative work Tuesday? A painting of flowers from every student just in time for Mother’s Day

As students dabbed their brushes and followed the instructions of artist Laura Jackson, kindergarten teacher Karen Croom, explained this was the kids rst experience painting on a canvas.

“It’s an exciting time. They never had this experience,” said Croom, who wrote the grant that funded the project. Each year, the Lenoir County Education Foundation and its parent organization, the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, award grants of up to $500 to teachers with money raised from community events and private donations.

Jackson volunteered to lead the painting party because of the important place she believes creative expression has in education. She spent decades in class- rooms as an art teacher before retiring.

“With music and dance, art is one of the best ways students can express themselves freely,” Jackson said. “They desperately need to do that. They’ve got to work that creative side, the right side of that brain, to become a more well-rounded person.”

While kindergartners at Northwest draw and color and create in their classrooms on a regular basis, they also bene t from some outside inspiration, like Jackson’s instruction. “These are opportunities for the kids to learn to draw, color, mix their colors – opportunities to integrate art into education,” Croom said.

The value of her grant that made the Little Artists Project possible: $375. The value of the paintings it produced: Priceless.