Students learn academics through art

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY NEWS) — Students are learning without even realizing it. That’s what’s happening in Ash for some students at Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary.

Teachers there are taking a different kind of approach, and they’re getting some recognition.

At Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary, teachers like Theresa Reiter make learning unique.

“We believe that our students will learn math, and history and science, all the other things they learn in the classroom through the arts,” Reiter said.

That belief caught the attention of many, including Susi Hamilton, the Secretary of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Hamilton says Governor Cooper hosts a statewide supply drive and Jessie Mae Monroe could not be overlooked for its strong arts program.

“Our interest in this school, was its focus on arts – arts integrated curriculum. So we’ve learned a lot today about techniques that the teachers are using here to teach their students um by using visual arts.”

Music instructor Kristi Smith, who has been teaching for 24 years, told us kids shouldn’t leave what they learn at school. That’s why teachers encourage students to step outside of their norm.

“You don’t have to appreciate everything that we do, but you have to try,” Smith said. “And if you don’t appreciate, you have to justify your reasoning. I don’t like that because it’s too loud. I don’t like that because it’s too boring.”

P.T.A. President Bryan Aycoth expressed that his fifth grader is proof that this way of learning makes a difference.

“It opens up the left side of critical thinking, or the artistic side of the brain that gives them that gap core curriculum, and gives them that break. It bridges the gap as I see it, and it helps their learning process from start to finish or easier and makes it a lot more fun,” Aycoth said.

Teachers want students to use what they learn in the classrooms at home too.