Omarr Otero- Father, Artist and Teacher

Robots, Recycling, and Enrichment: Visual Arts Education in a Title 1 Elementary School

Naples Grande Beach Resort: Royal Palm 6

Audience: Elementary School, College/University, Administration/Supervision

The purpose of Title 1 is to “ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education” (United States Department of Education). One way this purpose can be accomplished is to provide students with enriched and accelerated academic programming. Our presentation highlights the enrichment activities offered within a visual arts project at a Title 1 Elementary School. The class project, developed by the Art Teacher, utilized two themes: using recycled and repurposed materials, and R2D2, the popular iconographic robot from Star Wars. Our presentation will share the instructional delivery planning and connections to the Florida standards for visual arts education, with emphasis on innovation and experiential learning. Examples of student work will be presented to promote audience dialogue and discussion. The Art Teacher stated, “When I thought about it I started thinking I would like to use something popular to work with recycling. I thought of Star Wars since the kids are so into it and I know a lot about it. I decided to do something that was all basic shapes so all levels could do it. I easily made an R2D2 with an oval, 5 squares and 2 circles. This was a quick way to get them doing something they could be proud of, introduce them to recycling and do something fun along the way”.