June 27, 2024 – As one of their final projects of the year, art students at Walkertown High School put their skills to the test by writing and illustrating children’s books to share with kindergartners at Walkertown Elementary School.
The assignment was simple on its face – participating students had to draw illustrations to fill up a children’s book, take a field trip to the elementary school, and present what they had come up with to a class. Artists even had the freedom to choose their topics, ranging from their favorite animals to homages to their own childhoods. However, it quickly became clear just how daunting the development process for the project would be. Most of the students were constructing a narrative for a public performance for the first time, and it wasn’t enough to just make it good. They also had to tailor their stories and subjects to a specific audience that they didn’t necessarily have much experience communicating with.
“You’ve got to think about making it for little kids,” said Junior Summer Schlager. “It’s hard to make sure that you’re using the right words for them.”
The students had been hard at work all semester honing their artistic talents and coming up with pieces they could be proud of, but one of the most important skills an artist can develop is a receptive ear for feedback. Young children are notoriously honest in their opinions, so there was no better place to practice taking unfiltered criticism than a kindergarten class. On the flipside, it was also an opportunity to earn some of the sincerest appreciation of their work that the artists had ever heard.
“It feels special when you gain the acceptance of little kids,” said Junior Graciela Alcantara. “You know you did something right when you’re able to grab their attention.”
Not only was this a unique and challenging way to practice multiple disciplines of artistic expression in a single project, but it was also a source of joy. With summer getting closer, the art students considered it a welcome change of pace to spend a little bit of time in a kindergarten classroom, getting back to the basics of education and sharing the wonders of literature with their younger peers. The experience took them back to when they were first learning to express their creative interests in elementary school.
“People need to decorate their classrooms more like when we were in kindergarten,” said Sophomore Naleigha Tate. “Nobody wants to spend all day in a gloomy classroom.”
Art Teacher Nina Street was pleased to see her class taking the spirit of the assignment to heart. She knows as well as anyone that art has the power to enrich and inspire, even in the simplest of forms. With any luck, some of this year’s kindergarteners will be crafting their own books to share with another kindergarten class a decade or so from now.
“It’s a great example of one generation bringing up and inspiring another,” Street said. “I don’t know if they realize just how much of a difference they made.”