While going about my business of teaching children the joys
of art and trying to open their minds to creativity, I wasn’t expecting them
to create a movement.
Upon returning to school after the Thanksgiving holidays, I
was greeted by children who had spent their days off creating items to
sell. They had made ankle bracelets,
duck tape wallets, hand drawn cartoons, and anything else they could think of
that would bring in a buck. They had strategically collaborated on a scheme to
generate funds, not for themselves but for a cause that they had decided
deserved their attention.
While working for a cause is not unusual, the way they
collaborated and organized their little team was. Hannah Mosley, a shy and
extremely intuitive young fourth grader, had listened intently to some of my
rants about their responsibility to keep the arts alive……that they were our
future …and of course, I added my own involvement with The Farm into the
mix. What I didn’t realize that out of
those rants, I gave Hannah the impression that The Farm was going out of
business.
That notion that the Farm would not be there for her and
future generations obviously spoke to her. She had an idea. And she shared her idea with a friend, Sarah
Parnell. The two of them took on the mission and the task of ‘saving the
Farm.’ They met with their fellow
classmates and began making notes and brainstorming on what things they could
do to generate funds. Lilly Spiller, Katharyn Woodard, Cristalyn McDaniel, Evie Walker, Camile Simonton, Avery Myers, and Emily Ramie joined the team.
Then others signed up to work and sell their wares. Before you know it, they had their entire
fourth grade class involved. They each
made long list of items for sale in their notebooks. They shared their lists and their talents
with each other. They campaigned during
the holidays and hit up anyone they could with their idea and their mission to
‘save the Farm.’
What makes this all so incredible to me is that I saw them
create a movement. A movement to save
the arts. The idea that the Farm was going out of business was not true. While
our revenue streams have dried up and grant dollars for the arts have been
drastically cut, we’ve managed to come up with ideas to generate funds to keep
the Farm open. But none so moving as
theirs. The fact that the Farm could go
out of business without the continued support of the community was definitely
true.
And while I’ve been waiting and hoping that the community
would rise up and realize the importance of the arts and all those things that
encourage creativity…. a little girl did! Hannah and Sarah shared their vision with their
friends and classmates and this week handed me an envelope with $55.90 for The
Farm. It took everything I had to hold
back the tears. And with their proud
little smiles, they declared there was more to come. And Hannah, taking the lead, picked up a pen
and said “We need a goal. How much do we
need to raise for The Farm?” “You all
will need to decide that,” I said. “Will
$1,000 be enough?” she said while
writing the amount on the board.
At 50c per cartoon and $1 for each ankle bracelet, they were
confident that they could do it. This
little army of art warriors had put it all in perspective for me.
That $55.90 was worth more than a $1,000 to me. And these two little girls who recruited an army
of followers now own my heart. I’m not worried about the future of the Farm or
the future of the arts in Minden. I have
Hannah Mosley and Sarah Parnell and an army of creative thinkers who started
their own movement. Power to the people!
Power to the creative thinkers!
