All kids love art! They are naturally creative – and curious! Our Picturing America art appreciation program is designed to excite students about art and help them discover various mediums while understanding art history in America. It also offers parent volunteers a fun, engaging way to participate in classroom life. 

Volunteers pick a piece of artwork from the provided catalog and create a short presentation to share with their child’s homeroom class. Click here for an overview of the program to help you understand presentation expectations and how to best interact with your child's class. 

Click here for the catalog and guide to each work of art for both 4th and 5th grade. This information will walk you through main talking points, as well as offer guided questions for you to discuss with the class. You do NOT need to do extensive research, as the materials provided offer everything you need to build a 30-60 minute presentation.

The program typically runs during the winter months; the PTO will announce the timeframe and provide a volunteer sign-up link via email, social media, and the website homepage. Please note: There are limited volunteer slots per class. After signing up on the PTO website, volunteers should always reach out to their student's homeroom teacher to coordinate day/time and what might work best for their specific classroom.

**DO NOT overthink this! Presentations can be on powerpoint, on notecards, or off the top of your head -- the students' questions will naturally lead you through a presentation. They are so eager to learn! This program is meant to broaden their horizons and get them thinking about various art forms, how they relate to art, as well as how their own art relates to the world around them. If time (and the homeroom teacher) allows, you can even do a quick project with the class to put what they learn in action: this could be anything from coloring, using Q-tips or other items to provide texture in painting, using recycled items like paper towel rolls to build something, or gluing tissue paper and construction paper pieces to white paper to create a mosaic -- it's totally up to you!** 

If you have any questions, please reach out to chairs Dana Reinke or Cheryl Fantacone.