Take Out Art Kits

Please see the video of this event that we presented at our Club Meeting.

 The Problem:

Counselors in North Fulton schools have reported an increase in behavioral issues among elementary students, attributed to a number of factors including anxiety, emotional and social disadvantages, and daily chaos. 

Anxiety impacts students' outward behavior and interferes with learning. It often manifests in behaviors that are more significant and affects day-to-day functioning. For example, school counselors have seen an increase in students with panic attacks who are unable to recover and learn.

Emotional disadvantages occur when an ongoing family crisis such as family illness or an episodic event, such as divorce occurs. This may also include a family in a transitional housing situation. 

A daily disadvantage that affects numerous children is that of chaos. From the wealthiest to the poorest, children live in a world of chaos: frantic schedules, sports activities, shared custody swaps, day care, single and overworked parents, traveling parents, noisy homes with televisions on all day - it is difficult for children to find a moment of quiet. 

There are also children whose families are struggling economically for the first time ever. The economic gap is widening among families in North Fulton schools. Parents who are struggling to pay rent and buy groceries just don't have the funds for a fresh box of crayons or acrylic paints.

School counselors have identified art as a way to help children deal with their emotional, social and economic disadvantages, but school budgets do not allow for providing art supplies to those students in need.

Impact

Arts Alpharetta is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing Alpharetta as a cultural arts destination through artists and their work, strategic local partnerships, and its innovative and educational arts center. Arts Alpharetta, which relies entirely on donations, created the initiative of Take Out Art during the pandemic to ensure that isolated children would have a method of self-expression. Since then, the program has grown to provide hundreds of Take Out Art Kits a year to children in need, whether it is an economic or emotional need. According to the American Art Therapy Association, "The art making process allows for expression without words, helps establish safety, creates opportunities for coping, and offers a way to manage feelings. Creating art takes your mind off your everyday life and provides a relaxing distraction. It boosts self-esteem and provides a sense of accomplishment."

Arts Alpharetta works directly with local elementary school counselors and allows them to determine which students will benefit from the Take Out Art Kits. Students served include:

-economically challenged

-social/emotionally challenged

-behaviorally challenged

-academically challenged

-students experiencing trauma or challenges in their home

-students who need a positive in their lives; students who might function or perform "under the radar" among teachers and staff

Engaging in art activities is relaxing and redirects students thinking or obsessing over negative repetitive thoughts that cause a spiraling decline in behavior or stress management. Counselors provide classroom, small group and individual instruction and coaching on engaging in art activity as a coping strategy. The Take Out Art Kits provide the tools the students need to practice and apply this strategy at home.

With a $2000 District Grant, Rotary Club of North Fulton can work with Arts Alpharetta to provide 175 Take Out Art Kits to children in need. Each Take Out Art Kit will cost approximately $14.00 to create. 

Volunteer Involvement

Rotarians will provide the labor needed to purchase the supplies and assemble the Take Out Art Kits for the students. The kits include everything needed to complete art projects, including the newspaper needed to prevent paint from getting on surfaces! An instruction sheet (English and Spanish versions are created) is included in case the student would like some direction, or they can choose to create without any guidance. The greatest value is in creating, not what is created. Rotarians will also be involved in delivering the kits to the local elementary schools.

Public Image Impact

Each Take Out Art Kit will include a label with Rotary Club of North Fulton logo and both Arts Alpharetta and Rotary Club of North Fulton social media will feature photos/videos of the Take Out Art Kit assembly and delivery process.