Roaming teacher keeps art education in schools

A few years ago when we lost our elementary art educational assistants, classroom teachers took up the slack for art education. Naturally, that presented a bit of teacher overload, when combined with the regular required curriculum.

Casting about for viable solutions, we looked at an annual fine arts grant, the majority of which goes toward the Clovis schools’ music program.

With some reorganizing and juggling of funds we were able to hire a certified teacher to travel to all of our elementary school sites to teach art to students. The individual chosen for this roaming art teacher position was Corey Pickett.

Pickett is a veteran teacher of 17 years and has taught art and special education at elementary, middle school and high school grade levels. Most recently, he taught gifted and talented at Clovis High School.

Traveling to each of our 11 elementary schools, Pickett spends about a week at each school site, working with each grade level, using lesson plans he’s developed that align with existing standards and benchmarks.

In addition to art activities, Pickett introduces a famous artist to students, sharing their lives, art techniques, and other appropriate information.

With kindergarten students, Pickett covers impressionist Claude Monet, and the students paint a color wheel. First graders work with all sorts of line art (Keith Haring); second graders cover Andy Warhol and learn about pop art, doing a series of varied self-portraits. Third-grade students learn about Henri Matisse, and their project is a collage. Fourth grade covers Pablo Picasso and does a project with cubism. Fifth grade covers Vincent van Gogh, culminating in a project using special drawing techniques.

In addition to varied teaching experiences, art has been a common thread through Pickett’s own background. Leaning primarily toward sculpture, Pickett’s art has ranged from creating art in various media, from painting to “found object” sculpture. Pickett has shown his work from Sacramento and Oakland, California to Eastern New Mexico University, to Louisville, Kentucky, at the Muhammad Ali Center.

One of Pickett’s sculptures depicted John Carlos’ power salute at the 1968 Olympics, which he was then invited to present in person to John Carlos at the convention center in Oakland.

Picasso noted, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for the Clovis Municipal Schools. She can be reached at [email protected]