Benton Advanced Placement Art students will be traveling to all of the Benton feeder schools this year to get students interested in studying art. They started by visiting first graders at Hyde Elementary on Thursday.

“We teach them some of the fun cool stuff we’re doing,” said

“In high school, kids choose whether they will be in art, and we want to get the younger kids excited and give them a reason to stay active in art.”

Some of the cool projects include teaching students to make “bacon” out of wet toilet paper, and making paintings out of melted crayons (called “encaustic” painting). “The bacon piece is a 3D sculpture piece,” said Davis. “It looks so real, you’d almost expect it to smell like bacon.”

Benton art students have gone to Hyde in the past, which is right next door, but in the past they have not had funding to visit other schools. Thanks to an Apple Seed Grant Davis received, the AP art students can visit all of the Benton feeder schools, which include Hyde, Hosea and Lake Contrary Elementary Schools, as well as Spring Garden Middle School.

As part of the project, the Benton students spend time preparing to work with different ages of students, discussing expectations of working with the kids and thinking about their abilities as “little artists.” Afterward, students write in-depth reflections about the experience.

“This really teaches the high school kids to be advocates for the arts,” said Davis. “The kids tell me ‘I feel so empowered,’ and ‘I really felt like a role model and a real artist.’ It also gives them a sense of community, and helps them figure out ‘What’s my part in my community?’”