by K.D. Saffron

Created on: July 31, 2008   Last Updated: August 05, 2008

Dear Mrs. S., "Could you please ask your son to stop drawing on the sides of his papers?" signed Ms. P. 4th grade.
Dear Mrs. S., "Would you kindly try to get Eric to stop drawing on his homework or I must lower his grade for neatness", signed Ms. G. 8th grade.
Dear Mrs. S., " We are no longer asking that Eric refrain from doodling on his papers as we know that he wishes to pursue graphics design next year at East Carolina University, however he does need to be enrolled in extra art classes", signed Ms. Greffe 12th grade.

Of course he didn't stop there and later won several digitally designed art competitions in high school.

Since the beginning of time, our world as we know it has been driven by equations that have solutions. When all kids enter school until the time they leave high school, regardless of how they obtain that education, they are taught the importance of math and all things logical. However, what does this tell the person who does not process information in this way? Yes, it says doodle and tune out until he or she is done talking. They've done nothing to hold a visual learners attention. For instance, what if our person is very visually inclined and solves all problems in a very visual way, does this make the method by which the answer was obtained any less credible? I propose that it does not, and that is why we must teach art.

When fully engaged in the art world, the means by which common problems are solved is a process that is more clearly understood by those who excel at art while using the methods taught via art. It takes great imagination and worldly thinking processes to solve various types of problems encountered each day. While some of these can be solved using logic, most cannot and will require that "out of the box" thinking so highly required in today's society for success.

In days gone by, the person who excelled at math was the person who was most likely to succeed, and those who could not understand math were labeled as "slow learners". Thankfully for today's kids, those old stereotypes have gone, but are not totally forgotten. For example, at a recent university orientation, the new freshmen were split up according to their respective majors. The art department had approximately two-hundred students anxiously awaiting their assigned schedules. Yes, their schedules were assigned by the advisors, knowing that these kids took the math placement test the day before and all scored in approximately the same range. This meant that they really were supposed to be art majors and not some other science based effort. So, all art students, due to the heavy workload that each would have with projects due, were assigned to the same math class, while some were even given the option of taking philosophy in place of a math. Apparently, it's been shown that art students do very well in philosophy classes as opposed to math majors.

We must teach art for the benefit of those who love to write, draw, paint, design fabric, or mediate problems. Without this formal acknowledgement, most in school administration, testing, college admissions would totally dismiss the effort of many talented students who would otherwise get left behind each year simply because they think and solve problems by a different method. Fortunately, through hard work, most can escape the regimented school systems, and flourish academically through the outlet called "ART".

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