Elementary School Wins Crayola Grant

The Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School in East Providence is among 20 schools in the U.S. and Canada to receive a $3,000 grant to enhance math learning with the arts and diversity. 

Sponsored by the Crayola Corporation in collaboration with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), the Creatively Alive Children grant program provides $2,500 in funds and $500 in art supplies. 

The grant program asked schools to design an arts infusion program to enhance academic learning around the question “What if?” Whiteknact’s winning proposal answered: “What if all students learned about math in our world through the lens of art and diversity? Combining the greatest strengths of our students – their diversity and creativity – we will make math alive and enhance overall academic learning.” 

Math in Our World is a school-wide program that includes research and model projects based on multicultural math posters, an exhibit of math-related student artwork, and a student-authored and illustrated book of math poetry to be performed at an Arts Diversity Night. 

The program gives students a new lens to look at math in the world around them. They will explore how different cultures have contributed to math, such as the concept of zero (courtesy of the Mayans.) It will afford students opportunities to be creative, to collaborate with others and to express themselves in new ways -- be it a fifth-grade poster about math in a Tibetan sand circle to a kindergarten poem about patterns in a seashell. It unites the two sides of their brains, combining mathematical, spatial thinking with conceptual language and analysis. 

“We are grateful for the resources to creatively apply math learning with real-life context,” said Dr. Nadine Lima, Whiteknact Elementary Principal. “By the end of the year, our students will be inspired to see math everywhere they look.” 

Math in the World is a community effort spearheaded by the Whiteknact Arts Committee, composed of teachers, parents and administration, as well as the Whiteknact PTA, artists, local businesses, and arts groups.