United Action for Youth art program brings students, teachers together

IOWA CITY - Later this month, University of Iowa students will take on pupils of their own during United Action for Youth's sixth annual School of the Arts program.

The program, which was created as a collaboration between UAY and the UI Art Education Department, begins Feb. 25 and is a 10-session studio art program for junior high and high school students.

Participating youths will have the chance to learn from students in the UI's art methods in secondary schools course, which is a required class for UI students pursuing a career in art education.

Clar Baldus, UI clinical professor in art education, said the program allows many UI students the valuable experience of taking on their own students to test out coursework to see what works and what doesn't.

'They get to actually practice the ideas they have, to see if it's going to work ... to actually see what happens when you do this with a group of kids, otherwise it's all theoretical,” Baldus said.

Sara Rieger, a UI student in the post-secondary program and one of the seven art students taking on teacher roles this year, also noted the value of classroom experience.

'I think it's a great program. You don't get a lot of chances to get that hands-on practice, and it's kind of sink or swim,” she said. 'It's a huge learning process. There's just so many things that go into teaching that you don't think about.”

Art sessions will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays at UI's North Hall. On April 30, UAY will host a certificate ceremony and art exhibit.

Registration for the program is $100, and partial scholarships are available. The program is open to all area youths in eighth to 12th grades - not just UAY members.

'We're lucky because basically we get to invite UAY kids, but also the greater community to participate in this program,” said Mickey Hampton, UAY's development director and volunteer coordinator. 'We've had kids from Solon, Mount Vernon and some other smaller communities as well.”

Hampton said the program has brought in from 12 to 40 students each year. With seven instructors participating this spring, she hopes to have at least 35 students involved.