{"id":15561,"date":"2026-11-13T15:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T20:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=15561"},"modified":"2026-11-13T15:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T20:07:12","slug":"art-partners-class-pairs-passion-for-art-with-helping-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/art-partners-class-pairs-passion-for-art-with-helping-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Art pARTners class pairs passion for art with helping others"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Student mentor and senior Zakira Dawkins-Powell works with a peer in the newly piloted class called pARTners at Ocean Lakes High School on Oct. 30. They created self portraits under the supervision of resource teacher Andrea Smolin and art teacher Jaime Kurowski, who are in their third year of the program. (Photo provided with permission by Andrea Smolin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Elodie Stewart<\/em><\/p>\n

Some high school students are redefining what it means to learn, one art project at a time.<\/p>\n

Art pARTners, a new class at Ocean Lakes High School, unites students with disabilities and mentors through new social opportunities and art experiences. Andrea Smolin, a resource specialist and co-teacher of Art pARTners, said mentors are Ocean Lakes students who have a passion for art and helping others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe partners develop relationships with their mentors. They get an opportunity to learn basic social skills and experience new art together,\u201d Smolin said. \u201cI enjoy seeing amazing growth and how every student can gain so much knowledge every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Reina Odile Sahagun has been an Art pARTner for two years and joined because she enjoys helping others and creating relationships through art.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was rewarding to know that I got to help [the partners],\u201d Reina said. \u201cThe most important thing was learning to accommodate others\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the program they have done many art projects and bonding activities that help these students learn new skills and abilities. They learn new communication skills, engage in social experiences and build strong bonds and friendships.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite thing is becoming friends and learning new ways to communicate with them,\u201d senior Haleigh Gillikin said. \u201cI love teaching them new ways to express themselves through art.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with the partners through this class has taught Reina and Katie that there are common misconceptions about kids with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople would assume that the kids can\u2019t do something, but they can. They just need a little extra support or accommodations,\u201d Reina said. \u201cI learned a lot about being respectful to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smolin believes that classes, such as Art pARTners, are important and should be celebrated during Disability Awareness Month, which is something very important to her. Smolin and art teacher Jaime Kurowski piloted the class, and it\u2019s in its third year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisability Awareness Month means [that all of us] can learn about the variety of things that make everyone unique,\u201d Smolin said. \u201cEverybody should be treated with respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elodie Stewart is a journalism student serving as a staff writer for The Current<\/a>, a student news website for Ocean Lakes High School.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Elodie Stewart Some high school students are redefining what it means to learn, one art project at a time. Art pARTners, a new class at Ocean Lakes High School, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,225],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-student-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15561"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15564,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15561\/revisions\/15564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}