children’s voices and visions: lessons fr om an ar t t eacher Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation A documentary of Lynne Horoschak: 1999 George Bartol Arts in Education Fellow Foundation About the Bartol The Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation has supported the arts and culture in the Delaware Valley since 1985. The Foundation established the George Bartol Arts in Education Fellowship program in 1991 to honor the late business and civic leader, George Bartol III. Committed to the powerful role the arts play in developing the skills and engaging young people in learning, the Foundation developed the program If you are luck y, you had a teacher as a way to bring attention to and document outstanding efforts in arts like _Ly_n_ne_ H_or_os_ch_ak_ at least once in your life… education. The Foundation also created a fund to underwrite the documentation of the fellow’s Instead of collapsing under these challenges, Lynne uses them to create new opportunities. work through audio, video and contents: …A teacher who recognizes each child’s She fights the isolation of most art teachers by 01 printed materials. Introduction ....................................01 talents. A teacher who challenges the everyday. building bridges to other curriculum areas, A teacher firm enough to set limits and confi - collaborating with classroom teachers at every An Artist’s Life ...............................02 dent enough to let students find their own level. When there were no materials available way. A teacher who sees assets, not disabilities. for second graders to study Greece, she and Behind the Lessons: A Philosophical Q&A ........04 other teachers made them. Now all second The arts develop assets that children need — The Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation awards graders study from a book made by their peers. from creative problem solving to fine motor its George Bartol Arts in Education Fellowship skills. And when Lynne teaches art, they make In Action: The Artist in the Classroom .........05 to call attention to outstanding efforts in arts Unable to afford trips to museums, she creates connections to their own culture and those education. The Foundation was pleased to her own Gallery Walks in the classroom and fills of their classmates, promoting authentic Inspiration… ...................................07 award the 1999 Fellowship to Lynne Horoschak. the halls with artwork. experiences and understanding. …and Lessons ...................................08 Lynne epitomizes this dedication under any Her own approach to teaching has become circumstances. But, picture the environment more complex, stretching her abilities to For almost 25 years, Lynne has reinvented Special Needs Students: No Throwaway Children ..10 in which she works. Today, only 55 percent of combine technique with curriculum, the arts each day at William Loesche Elementary School, Philadelphia public schools have an art teacher with anything and everything. When her day using art as her “universal language” to teach Tips Toolbox ...................................12 and that is likely to decline. The average is done, she travels to Moore College of Art young people who are recently arrived from For more information, annual budget for art supplies in elementary and Design to share her experiences and other countries or who may do their work tact: schools is 200 to 500 dollars per 500 to 1,000 teaching strategies with tomorrow’s teachers. from a wheelchair. Every type of learning is con students, or about 50 cents per student per encouraged and celebrated. year. Elementary school art teachers teach six Through the George Bartol Arts in Education Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation classes or about 200 students per day. Fellowship, we applaud and recognize Lynne’s Lynne Horoschak’s work demonstrates what The Belgravia commitment to her students and community. education, not just arts education, should be. 1811 Chestnut Street, 3rd floor At the same time, it’s hard not to question We at the Foundation are proud to share her how the arts have declined in schools even work with you. Philadelphia, PA 19103 as we know the important role they play in 215-557-7225 the healthy development of children. Beth Feldman Brandt, Executive Director [email protected] Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation n. a vocatio nd found r a job a ooking fo its own.” went l ife of “I on a l “This was my first experience with children of Lynne, who is also an adjunct professor at Moore It took many races and backgrounds,” she says. “I fell College of Art and Design, says a positive in love. Here I was, teaching art to children and attitude helps her keep her enthusiasm up. “She is fun,” adds Rob Mcardle, a fellow fifth an artist’s offering them the delight I had experienced as “What I love is that she inspires the kids,” grader and art club member. “We made a wave a child in a rural Pennsylvania community. After “What keeps me happy in my job Maureen adds. “She hangs all the kids’ artwork and put pictures of little poems around it.” that summer, I knew what I was called to be: 30 years later is that I never around the school. That gets me, cause I love to an art teacher for children from all parts of allowed myself to get discouraged see their artwork on display.” “We like to do all the art stuff, like drawing our society.” by lack of behavior, lack of with the oil pastels,” adds Jeremy Gilford, a Lynne Horoschak loved art from the time she supplies, or lack of support from Her work has garnered her outside recognition: first grader who’s also in the art club. was in elementary school. But she never Her first job out of college was in North administration,” she says. “A lot She has been a semi-finalist for the wanted to be an art teacher. Philadelphia and, like many an art teacher, of teachers gripe and complain, Philadelphia Public School District’s Celebration Adds Maureen: “She teaches at their level. She she started with arts and crafts on a cart. and their teaching suffers. I keep of Excellence in Teaching Award; a finalist for takes the time so that the kids can understand That is, until one summer during college when my focus on the children.” the Rose Lindenbaum Award; an exhibitor what she’s talking about. You can see it in their she went to work at the YWCA New York City “I was lucky,” she says. “I didn’t know how at the ALMA Gallery in Philadelphia, the art, that they are so excited about it.” . Kids camp in the Catskills. hard I was working. I had to do a lot of Everyday she learns from her students. Celebrate the Arts show in Doylestown, Pa., organizing. I kept a lot of lists.” and the Painted Bride in Philadelphia. She “I went looking for a job and found a life. “I am still excited when I watch a 10-year-old also won a grant from the Philadelphia Arts in 02 career,” recalls Lynne, who has taught art In 1976, she joined the William Loesche discover the magic of perspective or the glow Education Partnership to teach the Renaissance to Philadelphia elementary school students She pursued the craft of art through high Elementary School, which is located in the far on the face of a 7-year-old who proudly through the arts to fifth graders. 03 for more than three decades. “It took on a school and spent a year after graduation as an northeast section of Philadelphia and is made exhibits her drawing of her Greek temple life of its own.” exchange student in the Netherlands, staying up of students from many diverse cultures dedicated to her mother. I never tire watching Lynne’s students are wide-eyed and shy when near Vincent Van Gogh’s birthplace. and languages. a child’s self-discovery.” asked why they like her (“Because she’s nice,” The Trucksville, Pa., native first discovered her says fifth-grader Alyse Greco). But their love for art on Thursdays at age six, when the “Art was everywhere and I was “Art is truly a universal language,” says Lynne, And, her students never tire of her. “You can enthusiasm for what she teaches comes art teacher would visit her elementary school. enchanted and amazed,” she who holds a master’s degree in art education really see that they love her,” says Maureen out in their short but quick answers. says. “I touched the trees from Temple University and has done additional Schneider, parent of two Loesche School “I never missed a Thursday,” she says. Van Gogh drew.” graduate studies at Temple, the University students and a lunchtime aide in the cafeteria, “She has after school clubs,” says Alyse, who “I couldn’t wait to find out whether we of the Arts and the University of Alaska. which is one door down from the art room. has been a club member since second grade. would be drawing something from our During the summer of her sophomore year at Her goal has been to make her class as special When she’s out for a day, the kids ask, “She gives us very nice projects. She lets us imagination, hearing a story, or seeing Moore College of Art, she got her first taste of to her students as her own Thursdays were in “When is Mrs. H coming back?” make decorations for student shows.” something special that she brought into teaching art at the camp in the Catskills, and elementary school. our classroom. For a six year old, it was a was hooked. magical time.” “To see Lynne floating around the classroom with a smile is to see what teaching can be at its very best,” says Miriam Foltz, co-president of the Loesche Home and School Association.