Art Goes to School (AGTS) is an organization that has been teaching art appreciation to elementary school students in the Cherry Hill school district for over 50 years. As an organization, the group has served thousands of students within Cherry Hill’s elementary schools, since its inception.
AGTS brings reproductions of artwork from all over the world to children, grades 1-5, as a traveling museum and art class. The free lessons are interactive and complement art curriculum in the classroom.
Amy Marks, volunteer and Grant Manager for the Cherry Hill chapter, shared, “What we do is we talk about art, and it raises socialization [and their] creativity, instead of being on mobile devices or computers or laptops.”
This mirrors findings presented by the National Endowment for the Arts in its “Snapshots of Arts Education in Childhood and Adolescence” that in-school arts access is associated with positive social-emotional attributes, including school belonging and peer support. The same study also reported higher reading, math, and science scores for 3rd-5th graders exposed to arts education.
The organization is made up strictly of volunteers. AGTS Cherry Hill chapter volunteer members meet weekly for 90 minutes on Tuesday mornings from September to November to prepare to teach Cherry Hill children about art and sculptures.
Every year, Art Goes to School chooses twenty pieces from their 2000+ piece art collection to be the focus of each chapter. At the start of the school year, each volunteer within the chapter chooses their favorite piece of art from the annual portfolio, composes a one-page report on their selection, and share the information with the group so that everyone becomes comfortable with the portfolio.
Volunteers teach around 10 classes per school year, each lasting around 40 minutes. No prior art background is needed. Marks noted that the Cherry Hill chapter’s volunteers consist of people from a range of backgrounds — retired teachers, former artists, and moms looking to fill the hours their children are at school. There are currently 22 volunteers committed to sharing this program with students in the district.
When asked about how she became involved, Marks joked, “I saw the write up in the Cherry Hill Sun” back in 2018, and she has been hooked ever since.
This enriching experience welcomes volunteers interested in learning more about art and encourage anyone that is interested to reach out. Anyone looking for additional information on how to get involved can contact Chapter Chairperson Libby DeLuca at libbyd67@comcast.net.
