CREATE Yourself

This website is all about Advocacy for Arts Education! Stay tuned for more information on the CREATEYourself campaign.

[flinch-nerds]

[bitrates]

[techedblog]

Let us ask you this…Who was your favourite teacher?

While growing up and going through school we’ve all had teachers who have left an impact on us and often changed our lives. ThinkTechEd would like to bring those teachers to the forefront and thank them. To thank them we are launching an...

[humansofnewyork]

“Society undervalues creativity. Many people think creativity just means decorating your room well, or choosing the right colors for your clothes. In reality, creativity is what underlies all change. Without creativity, the world would be stagnant.”

[artsforlearning-deactivated2018]

Why does art matter? It exposes children to self-expression, respect for others, and appreciation of the world around them.

[girlbeheard]

Girl Be Heard presents: 9mm America

9mm America is written and performed by ten girls (ages 14 to 23) who tell their stories about life in their own neighborhoods, where gun violence is a daily threat. The show is part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity in New York City.

Girl Be Heard is a nonprofit theater company that brings global issues affecting girls center stage.  We perform at the United Nations throughout the year to advocate for women and girls locally and globally.

We are raising money to support our production in the festival, and to bring our stop the violence show and educational curriculum to community centers and public schools where gun violence is a daily reality.  Without monetary support, we cannot bring our plans to fruition.

If you’re in the NYC area and would like more information about dates and tickets, visit: http://planetconnections.org/9mm-america/

If you can’t be in attendance or are wondering about how you can support our incredible show, visit: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/9mm-america

If you cannot donate, please reblog and help spread the word to help a girl be heard!

[fellfromfiction]

Everything we do is a choice. Oatmeal or cereal, highway or side streets, kiss her or keep her, we make choices and we live with the consequences. If someone gets hurt along the way we ask for forgivingness, it’s the best anyone can do.

Ned, Pushing Daisies

Words that never fail to make me tingle.

(via fellfromfiction, fellfromfiction)

(via bornwithoutamask)

[whyartmatters]

How Arts Education Saved a Roxbury Public School

Orchard Gardens K-8 Public School in Roxbury used to have a definite “prison feel”, according to new principal Andrew Bott. Bott, assuming the role of principal in 2010, made the decision to redirect the hundreds of thousands of dollars going towards security guards and spend it instead on art teachers. Now, 10% of the school’s budget goes towards arts and physical education. The kids that were once shuffled from class to class, forbidden from wearing backpacks due to the risk of concealed weaponry, are now chillin with Yo-Yo Ma; walking through bright halls lined with paintings from their peers; attending ballet performances; and, as put by 8th grader Keyvaughn Little, “I’ve been more open, and I’ve expressed myself more than I would have before the arts have came”. 

Orchard Gardens now has one of the fastest student improvement rates state-wide. Even the principal admits that it may have been “a little crazy”, but the switch has obviously worked in the kids’ favor.

Some more wisdom from our friend Keyvaughn, whose grades have improved due to increased confidence from his new art classes: “There’s no one particular way of doing something, and art helps you like see that”. 

Read more here or here or here

[createyourselfartseducation-blog]

How have the arts affected you? Your community? Your school? Your life?

[herz-marmeladenglasmomente]

[peterpazucha]

[utblog]

Do you talk to the quiet girl who sits next to you? Does your best friend have a learning disability? Does the boy that you are secretly crushing on use a wheelchair? Do you love to rock dance moves with movers from all different cultures and backgrounds?  Inclusion and being around people who are different from us is fun!

And one NYC school is taking inclusion to a new level… The IDEAL school in New York City offers a school for all children. They understand the importance of diversity and true inclusion.  Regardless of a child’s backgrounds or learning patterns, the kids are together in a “custom adapted curriculum.” During electives, all kids receive services that they need, whether it is physical therapy, speech therapy or a little extra help in a subject. The kids are still in class together and take upon various community service projects to foster unity in the school. This is how education should be. Schools should be not building walls, but tearing them down.  IDEAL is doing just that!

[nevver]

29 Ways to Stay Creative Infographic

[ohmygay]

Illinois Senate Votes In Favor of Marriage Equality

The Illinois Senate approved a measure that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state. 

The bill will now move to the House, which is more divided on the issue. 

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (not to be confused with the one known in hockey circles) favors the legislation and has stated he would sign it if (when) the bill reaches his desk. 

According to data from Pew Research in the Great Lakes Region, which includes Illinois, 49% support same-sex marriage vs. 42% who oppose it. 

[alison-rowan-deactivated2021061]

[2lovelyladies]

true story.

[itsve-ipad-drawing]

Creativity is intelligence having fun

Albert Einstein (via itsve-ipad-drawing)

[simply-quotes-deactivated202002]

I’m grateful for anything that reminds me of what’s possible in this life. Books can do that. Films can do that. Music can do that. School can do that. It’s so easy to allow one day to simply follow into the next, but every once in a while we encounter something that shows us that anything is possible, that dramatic change is possible, that something new can be made.

Jonathan Safran Foer (via simply-quotes)