Impact to the Max
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EVERY YEAR YOU IMPACT THE CREATIVE AND EDUCAtional lives of thousands of students across minnesota. Thank you!
Give to the Max Day is November 14! We hope you’ll add COMPAS to your short list of great Minnesota nonprofits to support on that day. When you do, your impact will be felt in classrooms across the state.
How will it be felt, you ask? Here’s an example…
For Miles*, a student who in the first 5 weeks of school had not been inspired enough to pick up a pen and write, your impact means he gets noticed and experiences the power of his own words. Students like Miles can’t fade into the background with Desdamona in the classroom – here’s what is happening…
This year, EVERY student at Murray Middle School in Saint Paul is creating with a COMPAS artist thanks to our community of donors and a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Yep! All 709 of them. And what a difference it is making.
The 8th graders recently created with Desdamona. She’s an award-winning spoken word artist who’s an expert on challenging and inspiring students.
And creative inspiration is exactly what students like Miles need to get back on track.
After discussing examples, getting insider tips, and practicing as a class, Desdamona gave students individual writing time. Miles and a friend sat in the back, doing nothing. After a quick discussion on how to get started, Desdamona tells us the friend got to work but said about Miles, “He won’t do anything. He never does.”
That’s where the power of creativity came in.
As Desdamona points out, “Some of these kids who fall through the cracks need individual positive reinforcement. They need to be seen and they need someone to see the potential in their gifts.”
COMPAS TEaching ARtist Desdamona is an Award-winning spoken word artist who you send into classrooms to inspire students
Recognizing and nurturing these gifts is what COMPAS’ Creative Classroom program is all about.
With encouragement from Desdamona, Miles chose three (rather snarky) words to start his poem. With a smile Des replied, “I like your sense of humor. How can we build on those words?”
Now that Miles had permission to be creative he got to work and wrote. An entire poem! On his way out of class that day he high-fived Desdamona. According to Miles’s teacher, writing that poem was the first thing he’d done since school started. But it’s not his last, now that he has engaged.
Thank you for joining the COMPAS board and staff in supporting COMPAS this Give to the Max Day and making an impact to the Max! Together as a community of teachers, artists & funders, we can engage and inspire students across Minnesota. Now that’s impact!
P.S. You don’t have to wait until November 14 to have your gift count towards Minnesota’s giving holiday! All gifts received between now and the 14th on our GiveMN site count – and help COMPAS win additional gifts. Thank you!
*Miles is a pseudonym.
