San Diego County CA— For the fourth year in a row, ArtReach, a non-profit that works to increase access to visual arts education in San Diego County schools, partnered with Knockaround, a local sunglasses company, to bring Class Acts, a hands-on design challenge to fourth and fifth graders in San Diego County Elementary schools. Students from Ramona Elementary and Iftin Charter School learned about the design process and then had the opportunity to draw and design their own pair of sunglasses. One student’s design was chosen by Kockaround to be manufactured and sold, resulting in $25,000 in sales to benefit the free ArtReach program, Access to Art, that brings high quality art education programs into K-6 schools throughout San Diego County.
“We’re so appreciative of the folks at Knockaround for continuing to work with us and our students,” said Theresa Fox, executive director at ArtReach. “These students are empowered to tap into their creativity and are validated when organizations like Knockaround give them such an amazing outlet to do so.”
This year, 240 students from Ramona Elementary and Iftin Charter School created an original design and wrote about their choice. Options varied from wild animals to abstract designs to flowers, hearts and rainbows. “Peacock Life,” designed by 5th grader Lilli Hayes from Ramona was the winner this year. Her purple, blue and green shades will, as Lilli declared in her design explanation, make “you shine in the sun.”
Sales of “Peacock Life” sunglasses amounted to $25,000, which will support the free Access to Art Program that brings high quality art education programs into K-6 schools throughout San Diego County, focusing on schools that have no resources for visual arts education. Since 2008, ArtReach teaching artists have helped over 13,000 children at such schools learn art skills, practice creative problem solving and experience the joy of creating original art.
Learn more about ArtReach at www.artreachsandiego.org. Learn more about Knockaround at www.knockaround.com