Students at Ben Bronz Academy in West Hartford, Connecticut experience a biennial 5–6 day intensive research project about the arts in order to apply the skills they have learned during the school year.
Ben Bronz Academy is a State of Connecticut approved special education private day-school for bright students who learn differently. For more than 30 years, Ben Bronz Academy has been accepting students with learning disabilities such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, ADHD, Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Autism Disorders and Executive Functioning Disorder. Instruction is based on what each student needs to be successful and works to remediate academic skills so that students can return to their public schools. Students at Ben Bronz Academy are given a toolbox of skills to help with planning, problem solving, communication and self-advocacy. Twice a year, students stop all regular academic classes for a week to focus on a research project. This event is called Research Week and it is a chance for the students to apply all the skills they have learned towards an intensive, real-life research project.
Research week is about providing new experiences and opportunities for our students that they would not have exposure to on a regular basis. – Emma Lessard and Kerry Chavoya, Ben Bronz Academy Mediators
This year Ben Bronz Academy students explored the arts. They studied different forms of sculpture, including ceramics, glass, wire, paper, and recycled art. Students researched famous artists, the history of glass art, and the process involved in pottery. The students conducted research on their topic, wrote a paper and learned new vocabulary. In addition, they had the opportunity to create their own art pieces that were displayed in an all-school art show as a culminating activity.
We started brainstorming ideas that we thought the students would be interested in. Because we have a lot of focus on the academics here, our students don’t have the opportunity for art classes, so we wanted to do something based on creativity. This week is meant to be hands-on and allow students to enjoy learning about something new. – Emma Lessard and Kerry Chavoya, Ben Bronz Academy Mediators
During the week, Ben Bronz Academy students had the opportunity to partake in field trips to the Mystic Museum of Art and HotSpot Glass Studio. They had guests from Pottery Piazza and the P.L.A.C.E on the Go Art Trolley.
After exploring art for the week, students, families and guests gathered at the school to tour the art show that the students put together. Pieces ranged from blown glass ornaments to paper and wire sculptures. Students stood proudly by their displays and were available to discuss the art form that they studied for the week.
It’s been really nice doing research week. I really like it. This is one of the best ones I’ve ever done because I think the glass was really nice to do. We got to go very hands on in the Hot Spot glass studio. We got to take out the kiln stuff and work with the materials. What was interesting was when the guy described things to us, he described things in a really good way. We had to learn about the ink in our flowers and the ink in our flowers is ink from tattoos. We’ve had a really good turnout today! -Asenya, Ben Bronz Student
“I really like the art show because it has a lot of stuff in it. The things I like the most are the spider I made, the clay and the things that other people made. Salvatore, Ben Bronz Student
“It’s been really nice doing research week. I really like it. This is one of the best ones I’ve ever done because I think the glass was really nice to do. We got to go very hands on in the Hot Spot glass studio. We got to take out the kiln stuff and work with the materials. What was interesting was when the guy described things to us, he described things in a really good way. We had to learn about the ink in our flowers and the ink in our flowers is ink from tattoos. We’ve had a really good turnout today! -Asenya, Ben Bronz Student