stART is made possible by the Dr. Edward Spaulding Perzel Children’s Fund
About the stART Program
Florence Thomas Art School is proud to sponsor the stART outreach program since 2016. This program is designed to provide access to quality art materials for Ashe County public school children as well as an inspiring presentation by a children’s book Author/Illustrator. This program targets children in the 3rd Grade at each of the three Ashe County Elementary Schools. Programs for home-schoolers in this age group are also made available through the Florence Thomas Art School in conjunction with the presentations at the public elementary schools.
What’s in the bag of supplies?
Each 3rd grader receives a bag of art supplies with high quality art materials generally chosen by their art teachers at school. In past years students have received a watercolor paper pad, a watercolor set, watercolor brushes, and a Sharpie. These materials are used in the classroom and then taken home at the end of the year.
This program is important because
Access to art helps child development in ways such as improving motor skills, language development, decision making, visual learning, cultural awareness, and improved academic performance. Ashe County is classified as a Tier 1 county which means our elementary schools can use all of the outside funding and support that they can get. Programs like stART help our county educators in providing these art experiences to the children in their schools.