Fine arts provide our students with opportunities to stretch, learn, grow and create! At MOC-Floyd Valley, we are blessed to have exceptional fine arts programs led by amazing teachers and sponsors.
The October 4, 2016 edition of “Edutopia” contained an article by Neil Swapp. In the article, Mr. Swapp shared the following five benefits of an arts education:
1) The arts cultivate a growth mindset. Through the arts, students develop skills like resilience, grit, and a growth mindset to help them master their craft, do well academically, and succeed in life after high school.
2) The arts cultivate self-confidence. Through the act of making music, creating a piece of art, performing and so on, students find their voices and develop the confidence to speak and express themselves in other areas.
3) The arts improve cognition. By immersing students in arts education, you draw them into an incredibly complex and multi-faceted endeavor that combines many subject matters while being uniquely tied to culture.
4) The arts cultivate communication skills. One can make an argument that communication may be the single most important aspect of existence. Our world is built through communication. Students learn a multitude of communication skills by studying the arts. Through the very process of being in a music ensemble, they must learn to verbally, physically, and emotionally communicate with their peers, conductor, and audience. Likewise, a cast member must not only communicate the spoken word to an audience, but also the more intangible underlying emotions of the script.
5) The arts deepen students understanding of culture and self. Their awareness of different people, places, and ideas through the arts helps them appreciate and accept the differences they find in the broader world.
It is not uncommon to see a student who may be struggling in academic classes blossom in a visual arts class. The confidence and hope that the student gains in the art class transfers back to the other subjects and beyond!
If you have attended any of our art shows, band competitions or music concerts; sat in the audience at one of our plays or musicals; or been mesmerized watching our students perform in large group or individual speech you understand how valuable these experiences! And, if you’re like me you shake your head in amazement when you witness the quality that our students produce through their commitment and hard work!