4-H Patriotivity Club

Expressive arts are a huge niche in our area. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, our high school recently lost their art department. Because of this the youth in our county no longer have an outlet to express their artistic abilities.
Statics show that art provides a type of therapy that helps children and adults improve self-esteem, cope with depression and anxiety, relieve stress, and manage addictions.
According to Kristin Wilson, MA, LPC, Director of Clinical Research at Newport Academy, “Teens who abuse substances are trying to escape feelings. Expressing who they are, without words, can lead to authentic connection with self. Furthermore, this allows them to make authentic connections with others.”

Seeing a need for a way to bring art back to our county and help students with this self-expression, a collaborative effort was formed between KCC teachers, Knott County 4-H and the KVEC Fire Conference Grant, the Patriotivity Club.

The 4-H agent working with the Language Arts teacher as the coordinator, met once a month with KCC high school students to plan, create, and collected over two-hundred works of art. The students worked hard all year producing art pieces which varied from pencil sketches to digital expressions, along with written works of art through expressive writing and song lyrics.
At the end of the year selections were made and published in a free book called “Patriotivity." The book was shared throughout our community and presented at the KVEC Fire Conference, which showcased the many talented youth in our county. Two of the youth were offered jobs cartooning for a website that very day.
This project has met the long-term outcome of our 4-H expressive art initiative seeing youth share the elements of visual arts with their community. One youth in the program stated how “art had helped her through her severe depression and how this club has given her an outlet once again.”  
The Patriotivity Club surpassed all expectations to see this diverse group of students utilizing their unstructured time to express themselves in such positive ways. The impact was genuinely amazing.

References:


Nature Neuroscience 14, 257–262 (2011)
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Am J Public Health 2003 April; 93(4): 647–651.
West J Med 2001 Jul; 175(1): 54–57.

Riley, S. (2001). Art therapy with adolescents. Western Journal of Medicine, 175(1), 54–57.