Public education in the arts is broken and one Barrie teacher says she's determined to find a way to fix it by bringing arts education to everyone.
Leah Ashby, founder of Crave Arts Academy and a classically trained music instructor with the Royal Conservatory of Music, also works as a full-time teacher at Seven Oaks Academy, a private school in the city’s northeast end, where she also runs both after-school and summer programs.
Through those programs, Ashby has found a unique way to integrate the arts into the typical science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programming.
“The arts almost need to be privately funded by parents and, unfortunately, we don’t have the resources to bring the arts back into public education," she says. "I do believe there is a huge connection in bridging the gap and developing empathy and self-confidence and lowering anxiety in our children.”
Science, technology, engineering, arts and music (STEAM), and incorporating the arts into the core academics, is a great place for children to supplement their education, Ashby says.
A single mother of three, Ashby had run a music and arts school with 500 students in Brantford before moving to Barrie, and is excited to be back doing what she loves — while also bringing the arts back into children's educational programs in the community.
Ashby, a former recipient of a Canadian 150 award for her summer camp programs and youth mentor programs, told BarrieToday she called her new academy Crave for a very simple reason: she 'craved' doing it after having to close down her program in Brantford.
“We should crave (the) arts,” she says, adding the arts are important in order to develop a fully rounded child, as well as to give them all the options that should be available to them.
“To me, that is bridging the gap from logic and emotion. When we don’t have creative problem solving skills and (that) emotion and empathy towards others, that’s where I think a lot of anxiety is coming into it," Ashby says. "Then an emotional child can’t fit into the logic of mathematics, BEDMAS and reading science text books.
"There is such a disconnect, so when we integrate and incorporate the arts, that is where we start to bridge connections for all children.”
The same can be said for those students who are considered to land on the “logical” side of things, she says.
“I had one student … he’s going to be an engineer or doctor. He graduated Grade 8 last year (and) I always said I was going to get a little bit of colour in (his) black-and-white world,” she says. “Even such a brilliant, gifted child still had a benefit from the arts. It was so hard for him … but everyone can benefit from the arts, whether they’re logical or emotional.
"I do feel our children fall into those two categories and if we can just bridge the gap through the arts and make connections from one side of thinking to the other … that’s where we get empathy.”
During the summer camp, students are broken into small groups and take part in all aspects of the STEAM program throughout the day.
“I always start with team building. That is our problem-solving part of the day. Then we do our experiments … the hands-on learning. It’s all the experiments parents would not do at home. We are making a mess … the slime, the explosions,” she says.
From there, they move on to engineering, where they are given a visual challenge and the supplies.
“They have to work with a team and try to do it. I love to see the development in that. Then we will do the community walk and learn from the others — what worked, what didn’t,” she says. “Teaching the children to learn from failure is a good thing. (Through) failure, we get stronger and we get more insight when we fail. Then we try it again.”
In the arts, Ashby says it’s important that students follow the creative development process.
“We can be great at things if we simplify and brain dump (and follow) the creative process and pick something we can accomplish with confidence," she says. "It’s important to finish despite the struggle (because) that’s the creative process.”
