Fine Arts Proposal Essay

The purpose of this proposal is to outline how the student’s education can be made to be more versatile. Here at Grafton High School, there is little priority placed on the art departments. It is largely understaffed, underfunded, and under emphasised as a valuable academic venture. For the students, an improved arts program could make a more well-rounded education to better prepare them for secondary education and/or the real world. Encouraging student participation in arts credits and extracurricular activities, leads to a more enriched community.

At Grafton High School, the arts department is frequently neglected, and students are offered limited opportunities to study the arts. The fine arts, choir, and band all only have one teacher,

putting a substantial workload on single teachers. Additionally, only having one teacher per branch of the arts leads to limited course options, as a desired class may only be available to a student during one period, leading to scheduling difficulties. This in turn also then leads to a lower class size as students often times sacrifice art electives for other credits since taking those classes aren’t practical, and they may not be offered in the future as a result of low turnout.
Reforms to the arts department may, preferably, take place over the course of four years, depending on the pace of funding.

Support must come from students, families, and staff to make these changes possible. To move towards a community of support for the arts, works of the students must be more presented to the public. School theater productions must be greater advertised and treated as important as the homecoming football game. Art shows need greater turnout and more inclusive to students not just taking art classes. Showing students that their hard work and commitment is recognized and appreciated will increase participation in these

programs.
The lack of options for classes has also contributed to the decline in the art departments. There’s only about one teacher per section of the arts, and with only seven available periods during the day, these teachers can only take on so much single-handedly. In other departments, there are multiple teachers for single courses, such as chemistry, but in the arts department, there is one teacher for many courses. When scheduling, students find that their desired art elective is only during one period, making it challenging to fit it in with other courses, and many simply don’t take that art elective just because of a lack of convenience even if that’s the class they really want to take. Courses in the arts are also just lumped in with other elective courses; they are only required to graduate as among the seven elective courses students must take, kids can graduate without taking a single art course their whole high school career. Making a reform to the current credits required to graduate, making it required to have 1 credit of art to graduate, as has been done at Homestead High School, would increase the emphasis on value of art course for students.
Disciplines in the fine arts have been shown as generally beneficial for students, and the issue of the declining arts department at GHS should not be brushed aside.

The arts departments offer students with a unique learning environment, as they a driven to learn through discovery and exploration. For example, research from a, “comparative study with other Chicago public elementary schools, students from the CAPE (Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education) schools performed better on standardized tests than the students who attended schools that did not integrate the arts with academics.” By neglecting the arts departments here GHS, we are neglecting the education the students

deserve.
Improving students education in arts may superficially appear to be a “waste of time”, however, research has shown a correlation between students with at least 1 year of fine arts and high scores on standardized testing. For example, the average SAT score for students with a half year or less is a 485 on the verbal and a 502 on the math, for students with 2 years of fine art courses see a jump in the average to a 505 on verbal and 517 on math. Not only do fine arts courses make more well-rounded students, taking courses in the fine arts also gives students results they can see.
Upon creating a fine art credit required for graduation at GHS, the student body as a whole will become more competitive on college applications. Many colleges prefer to see one credit of fine arts on high school transcripts, as indicates a student exposed to wide range of skills. Universities such UW-Madison and UW-Stevens Point recommend students to take 2 credits in the fine arts as preparation. As any good college applicant knows, they must be in a good academic standing and take on a variety academic endeavors throughout their high school career.
As a whole, GHS would have a better standing if reforms are made to outdated fine art programs. The school would become more appealing to school choice students, as seen the autos department, having strong elective programs draws in more students, and prevents losing students to other districts that offer better opportunities. By taking on these reforms, the high school could see an increase in the number of students taking fine arts courses, as well as an increased number of students attending GHS. Additionally, this expanded education in the arts could have a gradual impact on student's performance on standardized testing. Students at GHS could soon become better prepared for college and the real world, if overdue action is finally taken.