First Lady Laura Bush appeared at the Community Law Office during her visit to Knoxville on Wednesday, October 11, 2006. As the leader of Helping America’s Youth – her initiative to promote supportive relationships between young people and “caring, connected, and committed adults” – Mrs. Bush participated in the CLO’s Communication Through Art program with over forty at-risk Knoxville youth.
Knox County Public Defender Mark Stephens, with Demanta Felton of the Boys and Girls Club,
welcomed the First Lady and introduced her to members of the CLO social
services staff. Mrs. Bush was invited to meet and interact with the
children, who were sponsored by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Stephens describes the children in the CLO program as being at-risk.
“These kids have the same talents and dreams as any other kid in
Knox County. They are at risk only because they face challenges that
often lead good people down the wrong path. The biggest challenge for
them is usually coming from poor neighborhoods where the pressure to
engage in drugs and drop out of school can be more distracting for them
than it is for kids whose economic circumstances are more fortunate.
The CLO is committed to offering programs for these children to make
them believe in themselves and set goals for their futures. We want
them to succeed, and we want them to believe in their ability to
succeed.”Mrs. Bush toured the CLO and spent time talking to the children and observing their activities, which included exercises ranging from theater with volunteers Tom Parkhill and Jenny Ballard of the Tennessee Stage Company to drawing and sculpting with artist volunteers Kristi Lynch and Lizzie Stephens. The children had created a colorful wall mural welcoming the First Lady, which Mrs. Bush signed.
“This program is great,” said the First Lady. “Studying the arts builds discipline. It’s really a good way to open up your mind to a lot of possibilities in the world.”
Mrs.
Bush visited the Community Room, where events including theater, music,
dance, other performance art and sports are sponsored on behalf of
at-risk youth. She also sat with children in a room designated for arts
and crafts and roundtable discussions, storytelling and creative
writing. The walls of the art room are adorned with murals painted by
children who have participated in Communication Through Art. Several
books – including storybooks, volumes of children’s poetry,
and encyclopedias – are available to promote education and
creative thinking among participating youth.The First Lady engaged the children in lively and open discussion on many topics ranging from Hurricane Katrina to what it’s like to live in the White House. The participants at the round table included Stephens, Phillip Carrigan of the CLO, Wendi Love (high school art teacher and program volunteer), Christina Baker-Smith (mentor and program volunteer), Robert Hamilton (middle school student participant), Brianna Tate (elementary student participant), Makayla Fore (elementary student participant), and Dustin Breeden (high school participant).
Mrs. Bush was interested in Communication Through Art because research shows that art introduces young people to positive self-expression and helps to develop creative problem-solving skill sets in children. Art produces positive achievement and reinforcement, particularly in its relationship to advancing other academic disciplines that require creative thought, including mathematics, language, and science. More importantly, art helps us define who we are as individuals and as a society.
This year, the CTA program will introduce a new concept – Peer-to-Peer Mentoring. Adults and high school seniors from Knox County Schools will promote the arts among our city’s at-risk youth. This is a new idea in the Community Law Office’s commitment to cross-cultural communication as a means of harnessing the dignity that resides in every human being, and nurturing it in the time of life that is essential to promoting lifelong achievement.