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Creative Learning Programs

World Peace Art Initiaive
Black River Public School
Holland, MI USA

Holland Sentinel
Sunday, June 11, 2006

Students appreciate freedom teacher gives them to create
By LISA KNAPP Staff writer

He has used the genre in his classroom and as a member of the World Peace Art Initiative, a group of artists who are putting a large-scale environmental art piece in Albania's capital city square in October 2007.

Middleton traveled with his group to Albania in May to begin planning the display which will join art made by students in five different countries: the United States, Norway, China, Italy and Australia.

His group left behind supplies, including 1,000 plastic bags to be decorated by children. The bags will be one element of the art display. He hopes to bring a group of Black River students to Albania in 2007. His students are hungry to go because they've already experienced this type of artwork.

Standing by two students working with a computer and video equipment recently, Middleton explained to them that he didn't want a major documentary made from the footage of a recent art exhibit. For a parent program, he said, he just needed pictures of kids performing their artwork, because that's what parents want to see.

Behind Middleton, four students were hanging reflective paper from the ceiling to the floor, another student was trimming a section of a tree and other students filed in and out of the classroom, asking their teacher a question or giving an update on a project. Music played in the background and one student walked around eating lunch from a local Chinese restaurant while chatting with friends.

Middleton said he believes it's from that chaos that kids have the freedom to create.

Tenth-grader Mary Leonard said even though it may appear chaotic, it's really not.

"He gives us the space we need to think outside of the box while still staying within the rules and boundaries of art," she said.

Rachel Klaasen has been in Middleton's classes for four years. The first year, she said, she and classmates were amazed that he let them do whatever they wanted with their art projects.

"At the same time he gave us that freedom, he challenged us to think about what it was that we wanted to do," she said. "He taught me a lot about how to independently think."

Middleton said it is common to have one student throwing paint and another drawing formal artforms. The thrill for him as their teacher isn't the art their producing as much as it is about personal growth and development.

"When they leave here, I want them to have an understanding of themselves and an understanding that they matter," he said. "I think you could teach every subject through art because in the end you're left with something beautiful everyone can take part in."

Contact Lisa Knapp at lisa.knapp@hollandsentinel. com or (616)546-4275.