DALLAS, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Students from Travis, Lamar and De Zavala Middle Schools in the Irving Independent School District will tour the Nasher Sculpture Center in downtown Dallas this October -- but the visits will be much more than routine field trips. This school year, nearly 1,000 students from across the Irving ISD will participate in Make a Connection Thru Art, an educational initiative sponsored by Nokia . The program provides middle-school students the opportunity to work directly with professional artists while learning essential life skills such as respect, creative thinking and communication.
"The visit to the Nasher is really just a first step," said Gigi Antoni, Executive Director of Big Thought, the program's administrator. "While touring the gallery, instructors lecture on artist motivation and students participate in interactive activities. They learn how artists take an idea or concept and incorporate that theme into their work. Back in the classroom, students are challenged to pick a topic that's important to them -- individual concepts as important as self-confidence and pride or as autobiographical as family and heroes. Over the ensuing 10 weeks they then work with professional artists to explore those themes and turn them into art. The program does a phenomenal job of allowing students to develop life skills. It uses art as a way to explore their personal point of view."
Make a Connection Thru Art is in its third year in the Irving ISD and is the U.S. component of Nokia's global youth life-skills initiative. Nokia currently funds programs in 24 countries. In spring 2007, Make a Connection Thru Art will expand to Austin, Bowie, Crockett and Houston Middle Schools in the Irving ISD. For the first time, the program will also serve schools in the Keller Independent School District.
As has been the case since the program's inception, student work will be showcased at each of the seven Irving ISD middle schools and celebrated at year-end at a district-wide celebration. The work will also be compiled digitally and published at year end on http://www.makeaconnectionthruart.org/ .
"Make a Connection Thru Art provides an opportunity for students to express themselves, and we're very happy to again deliver this arts-based life-skills program to young people right in our own community," said Vannessa Nickson, Senior Manager, Community Involvement, Nokia. "Our partnership with the Irving ISD gives Nokia employees many opportunities to work with and get to know young people in and around Irving. For them, the Make a Connection Thru Art program is a great opportunity to learn with -- and learn from -- the program's middle-school participants."
Make a Connection Thru Art is sponsored by Nokia, with support from the Pearson Foundation. The program is managed directly by Big Thought.
About Make a Connection Thru Art
Make a Connection Thru Art is part of a global youth development initiative of Nokia and the International Youth Foundation. Since the year 2000, the global initiative has directly impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people around the world. Through this innovative program, young teens develop key life skills -- skills like self-confidence, communication, respect, and creative and critical thinking -- as they work in the classroom with professional artists to create works of art that express their concerns and impressions of the world. Make a Connection Thru Art is sponsored by Nokia, with support from the Pearson Foundation. The program is managed directly by Big Thought.
About Nokia
Nokia is committed to having a positive impact on society that extends beyond the advanced technology, products and services the company creates. Through its cooperation with IYF and other regional philanthropic and social responsibility programs, the company prepares young people to embrace opportunities created by the global economy and new technological advancements. The company has been an active regional contributor to youth and education causes for many years, with Nokia employees making their own contributions as volunteers in a range of programs throughout the world. Find out more about Nokia at http://www.nokia.com/ .
About Big Thought
Big Thought is one of the largest non-profit learning partnerships in the nation, inspiring, empowering, and uniting children and communities through education, arts and culture. Formed in 1987, the Dallas, Texas-based organization offers a diverse array of arts and culture-based performances, workshops, cultural excursions and multi-visit residencies for children and teens, and provides professional development and training to help adults use these programs. Big Thought's programs reach an average of 400,000 students, teachers and family members each year in schools, libraries, museums, juvenile facilities and community centers. Programs are presented in affiliation with Young Audiences, Inc. Find out more about Big Thought at http://www.bigthought.org/ .
About the Pearson Foundation
The Pearson Foundation extends Pearson's commitment to education by partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the globe. We aim to make a difference by sponsoring innovative educational programs and extending our educational expertise to help in classrooms and in local communities. Find out more about the Pearson Foundation at http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/ .
Contact: Amy Gerald
Communications Manager of Big Thought
469-916-9802
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk
