ArtistCorps participants call “Action!”

UNCSA artists teach filmmaking fundamentals to elementary school students

UNCSA was founded on the belief that the arts have the power to change the lives of everyone in our society.

In 2015, ArtistCorps was established to help UNCSA and its students engage in meaningful work in the community, with a goal of improving the lives of North Carolinians from all walks of life through the arts. Students from all over UNCSA’s campus participate in the program, accounting for thousands of hours of community engagement. One specific initiative: a program that brought students from the School of Filmmaking into Winston-Salem’s Brunson Elementary School.

“We integrate film into math curriculum, into history curriculum,” said Miles McKeller-Smith (B.F.A. Filmmaking ’20), who participated in the ArtistCorps initiative at Brunson. “It’s a way to blend what we do into what the students are learning every day. It enhances their education and drills down on subjects while also fostering an appreciation for arts.”

ArtistCorps members use fundamental filmmaking techniques—including storytelling and scriptwriting—as a tool to enhance existing elementary school curriculum. Rather than focusing on technical filmmaking skills, the program provides new perspectives on the lessons that children are already learning.

“Here at Brunson, our teachers are versed in a lot of pedagogical styles,” Brunson Elementary Elementary Principal Jeff Faullin says. “When you bring in an ArtistCorps member who has a completely different skill set but is able to connect to those standards, our students gain exposure to the arts, the knowledge that the community is a part of their school and a new path to learning.”

Teachers say the new perspectives make a difference in their students’ ability to comprehend the subject matter. “I noticed that for some of my students who struggle in the world of STEM or in the world of reading and writing, the arts are where they shine,” says Nicole Walters, a fifth grade teacher at Brunson.

Likewise, Faullin sees an overall increase in student engagement during the ArtistCorps-led activities.

“We see students engaged longer throughout the day, interacting with their teachers more, and articulating what it is that they want to do. It increases the capacity of our school to do the work that we’re meant to do.”

Thanks to support from the Strickland Family Foundation, the Reynolds American Foundation and Wells Fargo, among many other donors, UNCSA students are able to immerse themselves in all corners of Forsyth County and the surrounding region, sharing their skills along the way.