When it comes to art, students’ interests fluctuate. Fine arts classes are where students can express their creativity and ideas, and can improve their artwork with the help of teachers. There are students, however, who would rather use their fine arts classes as time to relax. They don’t show interest in the fine art classes that high school provides.
A poll was created in order to gauge the interest of MIA students in the fine arts. It received 76 responses from all grade levels.
23 freshmen took part in the poll, 5 of which are planning to pursue art after high school. 20 Sophomores took this poll, and 4 are pursuing art after high school. 18 Juniors did this poll, and 2 are pursuing art after high school, and only 2 out of 15 Seniors are planning to pursue art after graduation. As a whole, only 13 out of 76 students are thinking of art as a career path, leaving 63 students thinking of a different career.
The first graph showed that the majority of 64.5% of MIA students have taken performing arts or fine arts classes. Here at MIA, it’s required for students to have one fine art class. After that, many students don’t step foot into an art classroom again, or if they do, it’s to laze around.
Students’ willingness to be creative and participate in art classes is quite lacking, and here at MIA we value the fine arts. In order to assist students in exploring their interests, we provided possible art classes including many unique art forms that students could be interested in. Students were asked to select which classes they would be interested in attending if they were provided.
These potential art classes included Woodworking, Ceramics, Sculptures, Animation, Crafts, Metalworking/Jewelry, Leather-working, Fashion/Costume Design, Digital Art, Mixed Media, and Dance. Of these options, the most popular was Woodworking, with about 34 students showing interest. Other popular options were Metalworking/Jewelry with 28, Digital Art and Fashion/Costume Design tied with 27, and Ceramics with 26. It seems from the data that MIA students like to get their hands dirty! MIA students are always finding ways to get things done and at their best when they’re moving around. These classes could help students find their passions in life.
Lastly, the final question shows that 85.5% of MIA students would like classes of these different art forms. This shows that students would like a variety of art classes. Students who haven’t attended any art classes from the first graph are willing to attend these classes if provided at MIA.
The meaning of dissecting the data from this poll is to figure out the students’ wants and needs to reach their full creative potential. The classes we have provided don’t reach many students’ creative minds. This data shows the willingness of students to participate in these potential classes, so MIA could possibly provide them in the future to give students the opportunity to further concrete their career paths after high school.
