School will be anything but normal when students return. Giving children a sense of normalcy in the midst of a pandemic can be difficult, but art therapy can give them a sense of peace amid the storm. Sacred Heart High School’s art teacher, Stephanie Fontenot, hopes to give her students an outlet for their emotions while helping to provide a balanced curriculum.
Fontenot is originally from Pitkin and she has been teaching art for 29 years, 16 of which have been at Sacred Heart. She said there was not one particular instance when she decided to be an artist, but rather she has always felt a need to create. Her preferred medium is painting and charcoal/pastel drawings.
When it comes to teaching, Fontenot finds the subject matter to be challenging. “Teaching any subject isn’t always easy but teaching art is even harder because there’s different learning styles and strategies involved to make sure every student reaches their potential,” she said.
As for the students, Fontenot said they gain the benefit of a more developed imagination, problem-solving skills, and collaborative skills. “Through exploring their art, students can help improve their thoughts, emotions and behaviors to help them achieve in other classes.”
Fontenot finds art helps to balance a traditional curriculum by helping children with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness. “Visual arts teach students about color, layout, perspective, and balance: all techniques that are necessary in presentations (visual, digital) of academic work.”
Dealing with a pandemic adds further stress to children and teens. “Art can help students analyze what they have gone through and how they feel,” said Fontenot. “Through exploring their artwork, students can find their emotions that help them deal with every situation.”
Sacred Heart plans to open on August 13th, but should things change and the school would have to go virtual, Fontenot has still bring art to her students. “If at any time we must go virtual, I will continue to teach through Google Classroom. Art Students have computers with drawing and design programs which allow them to continue learning with teacher guided lessons. As a result of our school beginning distance learning in March due to COVID-19, I continued to teach art students through Google Classroom, Wakelet, and presentations on Google Slides. Students were able to have their artwork presented to parents through a virtual art show, which included their Catholic School Week art work and their end-of-the-year final painting.”
After all is said and done, Fontenot believes art to be beneficial to everyone, adults and kids, teachers and students alike, because “It allows them to deal with conflict that may be affecting their thoughts, emotions and behaviors.”
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Nancy Duplechain
Associate Editor