The Arts at PHPS

🎧 Show Notes

The PHPS Difference Podcast – Season 2, Episode 2
The Arts at PHPS

We’re kicking off a new series exploring the many ways PHPS supports the whole child—through the arts, Motor Lab, athletics, PE, and more.

In this episode, Ashley Peters (Music) and Jacinta Stewart (Art) share how creativity and self-expression help students build confidence and discover their strengths. You’ll also hear from PHPS students about what they love most about music and art.

🌟 In This Episode

• What music and art look like at PHPS
• Student perspectives on music and art
• How the arts build confidence and self-expression
• How creativity supports different learning strengths
• Favorite projects, performances, and classroom moments
• Why the arts are an important part of the PHPS experience

🎯 Our Goal

To highlight the experiences beyond the core classroom that help PHPS students grow, create, move, connect, and thrive.

💛 Special Thanks

A special thank you to Ashley Peters, Jacinta Stewart, and our PHPS students for sharing their voices and love of the arts.

📚 Keep Listening

Subscribe and join us as this series continues with a closer look at Motor Lab, athletics, PE, and more—all part of the PHPS Difference.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:05

You are listening to the PHPS Difference Podcast, an inside glance into how our school celebrates students who learn differently. We share insights, stories, and strategies to help families and our community empower every learner to thrive. We're your hosts, Lauren Merrill and Becky Barra.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

I love music because you get to see it. And you get to make the moves up. And you can play instruments. And you can move. And I love music. The instruments sound good together. And when the whole school gets together, it makes a big program. What I like about art is it's over and helps us whenever we need help. One thing I love about art is all the creativity and the freedom we're able to do. So like if we're doing a project, we can always like customize it and just make it like really say a lot of things about ourselves.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

While art and music focus on creating and performing, they're also places where our students build confidence, express themselves, and discover their strengths. At Preston Hollow, students in kindergarten through fourth grade enjoy both art and music each week. As they move into fifth grade through middle school, they'll have opportunities to explore art, band, and drama to continue to grow their creativity and talents. Today we're joined by Miss Stewart, our art teacher, and Mrs.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Peters, our music teacher. They'll give us a behind-the-scenes look into their classrooms and share why the arts plays such an important role in helping students who learn differently thrive.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

Welcome. We're so glad you're here. Welcome. Thank you so much. And I'd love if you would just introduce yourself and share a little bit about your experience and how long you've been at PHPS and how long you've been working with students.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Absolutely. Well, you can tell by my accent. I'm not from Texas, even though I love Texas. I'm from Australia. And my first year in Texas was last year, and first time at the school last year. So I had the absolute joy and privilege of being handed a large light-flooded room to do with as I may. And um that was just so exciting to set up that room and create a program here at PHPS. And I haven't looked back.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Well, we're glad. And technically, this is my 14th year at Preston Hollow. I was here from 2002 until 2013. And I took some time off to um raise my kids, and now that they're a little bit older, I got the honor of coming back. Um, and this is my third year back. That's great.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Well, we are in our second year in our new building, but it feels like when you walk into either of your classrooms that we've been there a lot longer. Um if someone walked into your classroom for the first time, what would they see or hear or experience?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Well, I think the first thing they'd notice in the art room is the amazing amount of windows we have. It's a very generous space in size, which is wonderful. That gives a great capacity for the scope of what we do, like large-scale paper mache, not restricted just to desk work. And I think that's wonderful. Reconfigurating tables, big arm movements, big body movements can happen in that space. And I often share with the children that I had lived in New York City for 17 years and know a lot of professional painters that paint in basements that have no windows. So I've often pointed out that they actually are working in a studio space that a professional artist would absolutely love. So they would notice the light, they would also notice open shelves with visual materials available for use. And that's always there for them. I'm giving instructions, we may have a specific activity that we're doing, and I'm introducing materials. But every student knows that everything they see in that room is accessible to them and they can explore that. So I hope that the f the second they walk in, there's a desire to create. There's these big boards on the table and splashes on drop cloths and invitation to get messy. So we don't emphasize perfection at all, we emphasize joy, discovery. There's no mistake you can make in that room.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

That's lovely. And when you walk in the music room, we're lucky to be tucked away from the classrooms and kind of in our own little corner. So we have the freedom to be loud without disturbing any of the classroom learning that's going on. Um, but we do a lot of movement, and uh, we have very lucky to have lots of instruments that are on display and easy to get to, rhythm instruments and barred orf instruments and things like that.

SPEAKER_03 5:18

Well, and being in the design lab right across from you, it's been such a joy. I can feel sometimes you playing the piano, and um, it's not a disturbance at all. It's just like this wonderful hum and energy that your classroom brings across the hall. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yeah, and I feel that when we walk in the halls for all of your classrooms, um, you hear the sound of creation, and that is such a joyful thing that we get to bring to our learning environment and bring to the students' lives. Um one of the things we love about PHPS is watching students discover things they're capable of and that they the way that they have this energy and something they maybe didn't know before about themselves. So, what do you love watching students discover most in your classrooms through art and music?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

So when I came back three years ago, um I took on a lofty goal for our Christmas program. It was about 20-25 minutes of familiar Christmas songs, and I told all of the kids we're going to memorize these and perform them, and they all looked at me and said, There's no way we can do that. That's too much to learn. And we started working on it at the end of October, and um, you know, by December we were performance ready and they memorized every single word and got out there and sang with confidence, and they proved to themselves that they could do something hard, and I was super proud of them for overcoming, you know, what they thought they couldn't do.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

And as their teacher, it's always amazing to see that they can truly memorize all of that, and not only that, but stand in front of their parents and their community and exactly and share.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

I think for me, I really love and celebrate children discovering a language that comes with ease. And our student body, you know, have very much challenges in language and other areas, but the visual art is a language that comes with ease, and there's nothing greater than seeing that confidence. And rather than them checking with me, is this good? Do you like how this looks? That moment when I see their independence and discovery that I can do this my way, I have ideas to express, and there's a shift that happens, and I'd say it's based around confidence, a bit like what you were saying too, Ms. Peters. Um, that confidence that comes with um encouraging them and saying, I'm I'm giving you all these materials, ideas, teaching about new artists, showing you new ways of using materials. At the end of the day, you are the artist. We're a body of artists in the room and we're supporting each other. And I can see, feel that confidence grow in them.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

That's wonderful. And I think you both do a really great job of creating that community, whether it's focused around music or art. Um, I think I've heard you say, Miss Stewart, half a dozen times, if not more. You know, nobody's art is perfect and there's not a grade on it. Everybody's art is their own journey. Absolutely, absolutely. Sometimes people think of art and music as enrichment. In fact, we we do call them enrichments here at PHPS, but we know there's so much more than that. What's one thing that you wish every parent understood about the role of art and music in their child's education?

SPEAKER_01 8:26

So music is supposed to be fun, you know, but there's so much more that comes with it. Um, we're doing language when we're learning words and reading, and you know, when we're keeping the steady beat. It also helps with reading skills and learning the rhythms and the cadences. And when we're playing our barred instruments, we're crossing that midline and we're doing so much more and moving, and that sets them up for success, not only in reading, but in math and so many other things also.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

That's wonderful. I'd love to share a quote from John Cleese, one of my favorite actors, um, who has a background, as we know, in creativity and acting, but he actually wrote a story, uh, a book, sorry, um, Creativity, a short and cheerful guide. And one of my favorite quotes of his is that creativity is not a talent, it's a way of operating. And I think that's powerful. We often view art that there are those that are creative and those that are not. It's actually a way of operating. And if we set up the room and our programs in a manner that encourages that, the children actually develop that creativity. Um, along the lines of what Ms. Peters was saying, I absolutely agree that when a child brings home a piece of work, it's so much more than that visual piece that's sitting in front of you when that arrives home. And it really is evidence of something much bigger. It involves problem solving, decision making, perseverance, frustration, risk taking, bi mode development, imagination, and most importantly, courage to change direction mid-project and the space to do that.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

I think oh go ahead. No, I was just thinking how unique it is that we give these students an opportunity, especially in our school, where they're working on those hard skills every day. They've come to us with learning differences that they're trying to grapple with different challenges, and they get to come to a space like your classrooms and maybe fail a little bit, but it's fun, or maybe try something that they're scared to try, but no one is worried about the outcome. It's just an experiment, and that's a lot of joy. I feel like that is a really cool gift and special gift that you get to give to our students each day, and kind of thinking about other ways that this carries over from the classroom to home to their other learning. Um, do you have other ways that you think of your gifts and talents that you give to give back to our kids and how they get to carry that into their lives?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

So, one of my favorite units that I get to do with um fourth grade is recorders. And there's so many skills that come with that, but um, the biggest one is in order, I do a program called Recorder Karate, and they have to learn a song and they have to play it individually for me, and they earn a belt that goes at the bottom of the recorder, and they try to get all the way up to black belt. And it's scary to do something by yourself, and um, you know, I try to make it as safe as I can, and they sit just in front of me, away from the class and they're playing, but they're learning such a life skill, I feel, um, you know, that because they're going to have times in their lives where they have to get up and give a speech in front of somebody or be in an interview or whatever, and they're learning that they can do things, and that might be hard at the beginning, you know, but um they get through it and see that they can tackle things that seem hard.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Yeah, being able to do hard things is a is hard for adults, so getting to teach that at a young age is important.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

I find a lot of our students are also very active in sports, and that's something very relatable, and people don't often associate with sports with art, but I do, and I call us the art Olympians sometimes. Practice, practice, practice. You don't expect to go out in a field and win that game. You have to practice, you learn a new skill, you fall off the bike, you drop the ball, you get up, you're part of a team, and that's often not an approach taken with art, but I very much take that. So when I walk into the classroom, I really hope the children experience first and foremost that I'm passionate about art. I am an artist. I mean, separate to education, I'm a professional artist, I paint. It's been my joy. I tell them, which is true. In third grade, I discovered that I had the word art in my name is Stuart. And I quite quickly try to work out how could I get to do art all day, every day? The answer was easy, become an art teacher. So I bring that with them, and I I see myself as an artist. I said, the only difference between you and me is years and practice. And coming from that position, if they, if I'm doing a drawing and they are, I never want a child to feel intimidated by that, I can't draw like that. It's a very simple answer. I couldn't draw like this when I was in third grade or fourth grade. I can now because I made it my practice. So at the same time of being a fellow artist in the room, I hope to be that example of a lifetime of practice and that that joy never goes away.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Well, before we wrap up, what do you hope every child feels when they leave your classroom each week?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

I hope they uh feel a sense of joy and a sense of accomplishment and um the freedom to take risks and see reward in those risks.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

I'd say the same word which has been repeated: joy, joy, and more joy. Um more than anything, I want the children to walk away feeling good about themselves. It's a boost in self-esteem that they didn't produce something that I demonstrated, that an idea came from them and they were empowered, encouraged, and supported to make that a reality. So I hope they leave with a skip in their step in confidence and a beaming smile and feeling better about their day, feeling more confident and definitely all about joy.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

Well, I think Lauren and I have just been smiling the whole time talking to you, both of you, because you both of your classrooms are this beautiful place where I know students leave feeling joyous and um often don't want to leave. And so I think today's conversation just reminds us so much that what you're doing isn't just about creating a project or learning a song, it's about helping students discover who they are, finding that confidence in their abilities, and experience success in really meaningful ways.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

And whether it's through a paintbrush, a performance, or simply the courage to try something new, art and music give our students another opportunity to shine. And that's something we celebrate every day at PHPS. So a huge thank you to you both for joining us and for sharing your passion and um bringing all of your joy back to our students each day.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

And thank you for listening to the PHPS Difference Podcast. We hope you'll join us the next time as we continue to explore the people, programs, and experiences that make PHPS so special.