Calendar connections: a school-based business enterprise - on the Art Career Track

Arts & Activities, Sept, 2002 by Liesa Schroeder

Our students are constantly bombarded by visual stimuli such as fast-paced images on television, computers and video games. As an art teacher, I am always looking to find innovative ways to help students develop skills in sorting, analyzing and communicating the meaning and use of images.

In addition, current research also suggests that visual communication skills are the most practical skills students will use in the future workplace. A recent project in our school addressed many of these concerns while allowing me to find ways to connect the fine arts to core curriculum areas and translate academic concepts into practical skills.

Our first step was tapping into teacher resource information from a national organization known as CUBE--The Center for Understanding the Built Environment (www.cubekc.org). This not-for-profit teacher resource center provides information on integrating the local community and built environment into the classroom. This resource also provides a Web site of resources, teaching strategies and curriculum services. The Learning Exchange (www.LX.org) is another not-for-profit teacher resource that provided us with school-to-career partnership information that was helpful in structuring this school-based business enterprise.

Art and regular classroom teachers in grade five began this project with the CUBE and Learning Exchange resources. This group of educators then "teamed up" with local graphic-design professionals in structure a school-based business with the purpose of publishing a student-generated, 12-month calendar featuring local architectural sites and landmarks.

As part of our planning, we devised measurable goals and outcomes aligned to art and core-curriculum objectives. We also developed forms of assessment such as rubrics, scoring guides, surveys and checklists to monitor student progress. The following goals were targeted:

GOAL 1 All participants will increase their knowledge of art, job-related skills and career opportunities. Students will practice and apply skills in:

* The elements and principles of design

* Drawing and illustration

* Photography and digital imaging

GOAL 2 All participants will increase their knowledge in the area of communication arts by creating a published finished work. Students will practice and apply skills in:

* Research techniques (electronic and library resources)

* Writing and organizing narratives

* Proofing and editing drafts

GOAL 3 Staff and students will team up with graphic-design specialists in order to increase their knowledge of the business concept titled, "All Aspects Framework" for business and industry. This framework is identified through federal legislation as being an outline of critical components inherent to any successful business. This concept will serve to connect student learning to the local community and the workplace and enable students to apply skills in:

* Organization--The Management Component

* Design and composition--The Planning Component

* Selection and layout--The Technical Component

* The draft, revision and print process--The Production Component

* Managing the cost of production--The Finance Component

* Advertising and distribution--The Community Component

This group of teachers (reading, library, art, technology, regular classroom teachers) worked together as a team in order to select local sites that best matched targeted core-curriculum objectives. Students then participated in walking tours of the selected local sites.

On site, the students worked in cooperative learning groups to investigate, document and record architectural sites, elements and details by means of drawing, illustration, photography and digital imaging. Students worked as artists, historians, photographers, detectives and reporters, they compiled portfolios of illustrations and photographs to include the elements of design, architectural details, building materials, patterns, light and shade, different angles, point of view and structural relationship.

Upon returning the classroom, students further investigated the sites by applying research skills to library resources and electronic communication. Students and staff then worked with graphic-design specialists in further structuring this site-based business as well as participating in image critique sessions. These sessions enabled students to apply skills in sorting, analyzing and selecting the best images suitable for the four-color calendar.

Students then worked in groups to apply the "All Aspects Business" framework to organizing, drafting and editing the final calendar product. All selected images, written information, and the draft copy of the calendar were then sent to a local printing company to be scanned, printed and duplicated. Students were also allowed to job-shadow the graphic-design professionals as they visited the print site in order to observe job skills firsthand. In addition, students also worked collaboratively to plan the cost of the production, the advertising and the distribution of the final product.