Carol Hamrick (music), Ruby Purifoy (library), Michelle Stagg (steam), Jeff Williams (P.E.), Sia Griffith(art), Phyllis Ramey (library) (Left to Right)
The Visual Arts program in Chesterfield County Public Schools is designed to offer sequential learning for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The implementation of this structured program engages the students in making art, looking at art, talking about art and learning about the cultural, social and historical context of art. Furthermore, the art program interfaces with other instructional disciplines and contributes to the understanding of learning outside of the art classroom. Through their art studies, students will broaden their cultural horizons and be empowered as life-long learners.
The concepts, abilities and attitudes developed through this program are vital to our students’ total growth. The program encourages a development of perceptual sensitivity to the environment and ability to understand, express and accept oneself and others while developing a student’s full creative potential. The art program provides opportunities for students to learn creative, divergent and critical thinking skills. Students gain an understanding of aesthetic principals that bring order and design to all aspects of living. The Visual Arts Program promotes an awareness of the contribution that art makes to a culture — transmitting values and concepts of civilization from one generation to another.
Our goal is to expose young learners to a wide variety of music experiences before they move to a more specialized program in the middle school. Our program includes but is not limited to; the art of spoken language, the art of singing, the art of moving, the art of performing on an instrument.
Our program is cumulative, so as we progress through grade levels the skills, we introduce become more complex. The final goal of the music program is to produce a student who first appreciates music as an art form and can explain how it is connected to their everyday life, second to produce a student who is knowledgeable about the world of music with the desire to continue their education in school or community performing arts programs, and third to produce a student who realizes that music builds and supports the concept of community of which they are an integral part.
Physical Education at the elementary level is a skill-based curriculum which focuses on key movement concepts and skills that help students perform in a variety of educational games, dances and gymnastics.
Students in Kindergarten and first grade focus on learning the basic movement concepts of how and where their bodies can move and learn a few critical elements of specific skills. They learn how their bodies react to vigorous physical activity and learn to use safe practices, cooperate with and respect others, and follow classroom rules.
Second and third-grade students work on progression toward movement patterns and begin to combine skills in educational game, dance, and gymnastic activities. Skill development remains a central focus as they refine, extend, and combine skills in more complex situations and demonstrate more proficient movement patterns in educational game, dance, and gymnastic activities.
Upper elementary students combine locomotor and manipulative skills in increasingly complex situations. Students create sequences in educational dances and gymnastics. They apply movement concepts and principles in individual movement performances, and tactical strategies in simple partner activities. Students continue to develop responsible personal and social behaviors as they work cooperatively with others in safe and respectful ways and understand that there are many differences in movement skill and ability levels among members of their class. Fitness assessment is appropriate at the upper grade levels.
Our ultimate goal is to produce students who are confident and competent in their skills so they will enjoy physical activity and continue to be active for a lifetime!
In computer resource for kindergarten through fifth grade, I strive to foster an interest in technology and an appreciation for technology through the study and demonstration of applications, computer skills and some basic troubleshooting. Students will learn basic operations, fundamentals of the keyboard, and the names and purposes of the essential parts of the computer.
Students will build on the foundation of the technological skills developed in previous grades and continue to grow as computer-literate students. Students will continue the process of becoming independently competent with the basic skills needed to operate a computer, usage, troubleshooting and understand the important role that technology has in the world.