Meet the Masters (MTM), the comprehensive art appreciation program at Donna Klein Jewish Academy, has grown since its beginnings in every sense of the word. The program started with about ten parent docents, each of whom would visit classrooms carrying posters with notes photocopied and taped to the back. Before parents were sent into the classroom, they participated in a brief training session, held in the school’s art room. Then it was “initiation by fire” as the docents made their way to visit their eagerly awaiting artistes.
Over the course of 16 years, the program has changed drastically and has now become a unique and high-tech one. There currently are three art teachers on staff, one for the lower school, middle school, and high school. Meet the Masters has metamorphosed into a sophisticated, very professional learning experience for students and docents alike. The images and teaching tools have gone from color copied prints to slides, to CDs, to PowerPoint presentations on Smart Boards linked directly to the school’s computer server. The classroom visit time has increased to half-hour sessions in the lower school and 50 minutes (a full period) in the middle school and high school. The docent training is a two-hour, mandatory, college-style, videotaped lecture, with attendance averaging 40 to 50 adult volunteers.
Note: School policy dictates that no parent is allowed to participate in the Meet the Masters program without first attending the instructional lecture. Additionally, school policy states that parents may not teach their own children. They can go in to the grade that their child is in, but they can’t be a docent for their class.
Six faculty members and parents serve as chairpersons for MTM. The MTM team shares in the research and the writing, with the input of parent volunteers. Each has a designated role, with the art curriculum coordinator heading the team. The parent chair is a dedicated docent who communicates with parents and works on docent visits.
Before the school year begins, an e-mail communication goes out to the entire school parent body. A sign-up sheet with information about the program is included, as well as an invitation to interested participants to attend an introductory orientation session at the beginning of the school year. An experienced docent introduces the program at every “New Parent Welcome Coffee” to attract new volunteers. The MTM program’s reputation is well known throughout the school community, as well as the South Florida day school, private, and public school worlds.
Each year, the MTM staff meets, and together they choose an overriding theme. They have included the following: “…And They Are Jewish,” Woman Artists, A Taste of Europe, A Brush with Nature, The Many Faces of Art, American Artists, Photography, Architecture, and Sculpture, The Magic of Museums, and Color Our World. A writing piece is also incorporated into the program. After each visit, the students are given a prompt question and write a journal entry, a haiku, or poem relating to the images studied.
There are many benefits to Meet the Masters. Parent pride and involvement is one; students being exposed to inspiring art, and children seeing their parents as docent volunteers are others. Students, parents, and administrators work together and see art as a vital, interesting, important, and fun part of the curriculum. Parents learn! They become students, and they now have something new to discuss and share with their children. Students develop into art patrons of the future. The program encourages families to go to museums, experience theater, and engage in musical performances.
Docents also take part in DKJA’s Art Reach outreach program in partnership with a neighboring public school, which has a very different demographic. It is an impoverished school, which, as a result of our partnership, benefits by participating in Meet the Masters at DKJA. Docents become great role models of tzedakah for their children to see.
Although the program now has reached a great level of accomplishment, there is always more to do and room to improve. One goal of the future is to take the program “on the road.” DKJA would be honored to share its firsthand experience, seeing a concept blossom into a masterpiece. The school’s faculty, staff, and docents would enthusiastically share Meet the Masters information with interested educators. It truly has impacted every area of school life at DKJA. ♦
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