20 Innovative Ideas

From the 2018–2019 Champion Creatively Alive Children Grant Winners.
Principal Supplement: Champion Creatively Alive Children
September 2019

From the 2018–2019 Champion Creatively Alive Children Grant Winners.
Principal Supplement: Champion Creatively Alive Children
September 2019

Art, Identity, and Mindfulness
Hilltop Middle School
Ilwaco, Washington
Kara Powell, Principal

The school’s Arts, Identity, and Mindfulness course uses peer support and visual communication strategies to help students deal with high Adverse Childhood Experiences, generational poverty, and behavioral issues. The arts help students deal with trauma and stress, become more resilient, and navigate their complicated lives.Arts Professional

Learning Community Provides Peer Coaching
View Ridge Elementary Arts Academy
Bremerton, Washington
Korene Calderwood, Principal

In its second year of an arts-integration journey, this school’s Arts Professional Learning Community embeds arts integration into the school improvement plan and provides faculty with professional learning and coaching to deepen this approach schoolwide.

Community Connections Increase Arts Learning
Holly Springs-Motlow Elementary School
Campobello, South Carolina
Erika Center, Principal

Working with the Arts in Basic Curriculum organization and teaching artists from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, this school builds classroom teachers’ and students’ artistic knowledge and creative confidence.

Community Partnerships: People, Places, and Services
The Experiential School of Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Melissa Bocci, Principal

This new school’s mission focuses on collaborating with the community to prepare students to be engaged citizens. Professional development for the faculty focuses on arts integration, experiential teaching, and project-based learning.

Embedding Robust Art Integration
Thomas S. Stone
Elementary School
Mt. Rainier, Maryland
Ashanti Foster, Principal

Nestled in a community steeped in artistry, this school works with museums and arts organizations to embed the arts throughout its curriculum.

Implementing a Vision to Reduce Isolation and Inspire Engagement
Lehigh Acres Middle School
Lehigh Acres, Florida
Neketa Watson, Principal

This STEAM magnet school uses arts integration to bring learning alive. Its vision is to reduce the impact of socioeconomic challenges and learners’ sense of isolation by building creative problem-solving skills.

Intellectual and Emotional Connections Help Facilitate Self-Regulation
Eva Wolfe Elementary School
North Las Vegas, Nevada
Jennifer French, Principal

This school partners with parents to help children create meaning, promote mindfulness, and appreciate beauty. They focus on the “therapeutic and intellectual power of art” to increase self-
regulation skills.

Leadership as a Path Forward: a Self-Reflective Approach
Hedgepeth-Williams Middle School for the Arts
Trenton, New Jersey
Adrienne R. Hill, Principal

Working with Crayola creatED on professional development, this school uses self-reflective exercises to assess growth and to elevate projects beyond basic enhancement into true arts-integration experiences.

Learning Beyond School
Rivercrest Elementary School
Bartlett, Tennessee
Portia Tate, Principal

This school uses the arts to increase family engagement and honor the learning that occurs beyond school walls. Instead of traditional homework, families create arts-integration projects that bridge learning between home and school.

Next-Generation Science Standards and an Arts Lens
Otay Elementary School
Chula Vista, California
Monica Castillo, Principal

Community-based teaching artists provide faculty with multiple strategies and unit plans to integrate science and art learning.

Problem-Solving That Transcends Disciplines: Breaking Content-Area Boundaries
Journey Elementary School
Casper, Wyoming
Coebie Taylor-Logan, Principal

Classroom teachers and arts specialists collaborate and co-teach cross-disciplinary projects. They develop innovative assessment rubrics and focus on project-based learning to build student agency.

Raising the Roof: The Place and the Space for Unique Teaching and Learning
Johnsburg Central School
North Creek, New York
Heather Flanagan, Principal

Community collaborations with the Adirondack Experience and the Hyde Museum provide teachers with professional development and interdisciplinary units.

See the World and Make Your Mark
Riviera Beach Elementary School
Pasadena, Maryland
John Wojtila, Principal

This school restructured the learning day to promote coherent, aligned learning across all subjects, steeped in the arts. Cultural arts teaching teams co-plan and co-teach with classroom teachers, helping students see the world
and make their marks.

Student Empowerment Through Supporting Shifts in Teacher Practice
Hokulani Elementary School
Honolulu, Hawai’i
Laurie Luczak, Principal

In collaboration with the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and Art, this school provides teachers with professional development that intersects art and visual literacy.

Student Voice Addresses Restorative Justice
Oakland Mills Middle School
Columbia, Maryland
Megan Chrobak, Principal

The school’s newly created Student Council of the Arts works with teachers to infuse art into restorative-justice projects, providing regular feedback to the faculty on arts-
integration projects.

Therapeutic Benefits of Cultural Arts
McKinley Elementary School
Erie, Pennsylvania

Dana Suppa, Principal
With a high percentage of refugee families, this school enjoys the richness of many diverse immigrant cultures. Trained in therapeutic art practices, teachers use the arts to create safe environments that establish cultural respect within the learning community.

Think Forward: Embrace and Develop Teachers’ and Students’ Learning Styles
Penrose Elementary School
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Tamara Sobin, Principal

This learning community guides forward thinking and develops leaders who are critical thinkers. It redesigned the learning environment to embrace individuals’ learning styles and empower students to take ownership of their learning journey.

Time to Deepen Learning and Create Together
FAIR School Crystal
Crystal, Minnesota

Zoraba Ross, PrincipaCrayola creatED courses have deepened teachers’ understanding of art-integration strategies and enabled them to apply leadership and multiliteracy concepts to classroom projects. As faculty embed art more purposefully into classrooms, they increase levels of collaboration.

SEEKing New Ways to Address Attitudes and Mindsets
Hillside Elementary School
Livingston, New Jersey
Carlos Gramata, Principal

This school uses art integration to build a growth mindset within its Caring Communities program. Students explore SEEK™ and use studio habits to foster a growth mindset, which impacts all learning.

Well-Being: Prerequisite for School Success
P.S. 54
Bronx, New York
Dr. Marybelle Ferreira, Principal

What if children could use art to develop coping skills, self-soothe, and develop resilience? Inspired by Pablo Picasso’s quote “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls,” the school focuses on using the arts to strengthen social and emotional learning.


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