Intro to Service

Author: Adam Taubenslag

Being a member of an arts integration team, I expected certain artistic practices to lend themselves to learning outcomes and specific lessons. As I read through curriculum standards, I realized the surprise and challenge of artistic freedom in which these standards can be interpreted and used in different methods incorporating the arts. In essence, there is no right way to teach and integrate the arts, thus the outcome is completely subjective based around which art we choose that fits. For this reason, it seems to be a flexible maze of challenges and fun to create lesson plans that fulfill each of the outcomes we set out to do. This is a joy and significant undertaking that will forever create new opportunities for those involved.

I'm particularly glad that I joined ArtistCorps to serve this community for the joy and wonder I see in children's faces when we present the varied and fascinating materials. I find that serving the community has always been a great joy of mine, and after volunteering with ArtistCorps last year, I found this would be a wonderful opportunity to incorporate the dynamic lessons of my resourceful education into the lives of people without the same opportunities. They seem to love our efforts to help them connect with the arts, which translates to them loving to learn, and that is a beautiful thing. I am extremely grateful that I am a part of the ArtistCorps program so that the children from these schools may be able to take these opportunities, and, in the future, give back to their communities.