Just how important is art education? For elementary-aged students, it is a vital part of not only their development of fine motor skills, but also the right brain.  Too many times in education are fine arts programs cut when budgets feel financial strain.

But educators and districts need to fight to keep elementary music and art as an integral part to the school day.  For who are we to become if we don’t have opportunities to grow creatively? Right now, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook/Instagram has a running contest that awards $10,000 to each person who can fix a “bug” in one of his programs.

Most recently, a young 10-year-old boy in Finland earned his $10,000 for fixing an Instagram bug. He taught himself coding by watching YouTube videos and probably had many different creative opportunities in his short life.  It’s up to schools to help sustain avenues for creativity and to extol the values of the fine arts each day.

Here at HCDE, each summer we offer “You Gotta Have Art,” a two-day workshop that trains new and experienced elementary art teachers in ways to help creativity bloom in young minds. By leading area school districts in art education, we are saying that the fine arts matter. Fine arts should be at the forefront of elementary instruction because we value the work of these professionals.  Join us this July for our two-day workshop to help mold the creative problem-solvers of tomorrow. View flier and register.

About the Blogger: Kelly Tumy is curriculum director for English language arts and social studies in the Teaching and Learning Center at HCDE. During her 25-year career in education/administration, she has loyally served Harris County as an educator in Galena Park, Humble and most recently Crosby ISD. Tumy’s workshops focus on inquiry-based instruction in the ELA classroom. Her passion for cross-curricular connections helps students and teachers see the elasticity in education.