Arts for Youth

What is Arts For Youth?
Arts For Youth works with Title I schools in the South Salt Lake City district to teach art lessons to kids. Arts For Youth (AFY) works at two different elementary schools: Lincoln Elementary and Woodrow Wilson Elementary. Volunteers go to the after-school programs and teach kids art in the form of visual, musical, theatrical, dance, or more. Along with teaching art, volunteers are role models for the students (grade 1-6) by encouraging them to respect each other and the environment.

Volunteer Roles:

• Lesson Planner: This person comes up with the main lesson plan (which should be about an hour long). There are many sources to find lesson plans: YouTube, Pinterest, or simply thinking back to when you were doing art as a kid.
• Instructor: This person gets the attention of the students and explains the lesson plan to the students. It is more organized to have one instructor; however, all the volunteers walk around and help the students.
• Material Pick-up:   This person picks up the materials bag from the Bennion Center on the day of volunteering.
• Photographer: This person takes uses their own camera to take pictures of the volunteers, the students, and the art process.
• Shadow: All new volunteers are required to attend a shadowing session, where they will go to a school and follow a previous AFY volunteer. They will see what the different roles entail and they will get the chance to work with the kids before they are required to complete a background check.
• Driver (optional): A lot of our volunteers do not have cars, therefore we have the optional driver for anyone who has a car and would like to give rides to other volunteers. If not, we highly encourage our volunteers to take public transportation to the schools (its FREE with a UID). 

 

Why Should You Volunteer with Arts For Youth?

All of our volunteers have a great time working with the kids at the elementary schools. Similarly, the kids LOVE having college students come to their school to help them with art. The kids are so enthusiastic and look forward each week to see University of Utah volunteers. Also, every year, there is an Arts For Youth Showcase for the kids to show off their beautiful artwork. This showcase is a chance for students and their families to come to a free event and see the artwork, get free food, and have a great time with their child. We always have our volunteers at the Showcase for face painting or helping out with other small art projects. So, if you are looking for a leadership role or just want to volunteer with fun kids, then Arts For Youth is the program for you!

-Brittany Thurgood, Arts for Youth Program Director