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Lesson Plans


re: new thread - art budgets

From: Teri Mason (terily)
Date: Wed Feb 23 2000 - 11:29:17 PST

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    I am lucky here at my new school... I get $5 per child, with a
    population of 500. It buys everything I need. I also do a fundraiser
    each year to raise money for special events. I get lots of stuff
    donated and I don't usually mention it to the principal, just in case.
    One thing I do is have an annual gallery night, which raises awareness
    for my program. I also ask for lots of donations... last year's markers
    or glue bottles from classroom teachers, all kinds of junk from parents,
    I get scrap mat board and foam core board from a couple of local frame
    shops. You name it, I get it free.
    Another thing I did was to plaster the walls with art! I always put up
    a sign explaining the lesson, what we learned, the process, etc. And
    since we have no bulletin boards here at school, I actually bought my
    own 4x8' sheet of plywood and had it mounted on one of our cinderblock
    walls. THe principal is now going to buy me more and let me put
    bulletin boards (plywood) all over the school. I basically take the
    initiative and then get everyone on MY bandwagon!
    Finally, I watch for sales. WalMart always has crayola markers on sale
    right before school starts for $1 per pack. I just shell out my own
    money for some of them.

    One thing you might also do is to lay out the projects/concepts you want
    to teach for the year. Then have the whole school doing the same media
    and get lots donated. For instance, weaving, you could get matboard or
    cardboard (I also get ALL the boxes, break them down and cut into
    pieces) for looms and get donated yarn. Or printmaking: buy the ink
    with budget $$ (Nasco bulk ink is great), use matboard to make string or
    yarn designs glued on, do some printing on paper, cut up styro meat
    trays for styro printing, do potato prints, etc. And have it all on
    paper so the admin can see what you are trying to do. Maybe even line
    out a 3 year plan and show them that you need x amount of $ to
    accomplish this. Or, as a last resort, go to the parents with this and
    say "If you like what you've seen so far, tell the administration.
    Budget cuts are going to force us to whittle down our program."

    Good luck, I've been at schools with a tiny budget and it's so hard...
    That's why I am such a pack rat, even now when I don't need to be!!
    teri 

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