Sargent Art is a U.S. manufacturer and importer of art materials for education, fine art and crafts, taking its name after the famous American artist, John Singer Sargent. For more than 100 years, Sargent Art has been a trusted brand for schools and artists around the world.
Sargent Art will be closing at the end of the year, so the business developed a donation opportunity for school districts to participate in to give back to the schools that have supported them over the years.
Since there was a limited amount of product available to be distributed, this program was implemented through word of mouth.
Initially, districts were being contacted randomly, but that wasn’t very successful, as some districts perceived the gesture as too good to be true and discarded it as a scam. Since that time, a coordinated effort to make connections with the school districts and distribute the supplies was enacted through collaborative efforts.
All the products allocated for the donation have been finalized and will be shipped by the end of October.
Local school districts in Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties accepting donations included the Ogle County Education Cooperative, Rochelle Township High School, Oregon School District No. 220, Amboy School District 272, Polo School District 222, Creston School District 161, Dixon Public Schools District 170, Sterling, Rock Falls Elementary and Faith Christian School.
The Ogle County Education Cooperative in cooperation with Pine Rock Township stored supplies until program students could assist in sorting and delivering the substantial donation of art supplies to teachers and students as part of their service learning initiative.
Students also participated in efforts to give back to others and service learning by offering some supplies to the Village of Progress, Kings School and Hope of Rochelle. Staff and students at Chana Education Center and the PLUS Life Skills programs will benefit.
Both programs incorporate art lessons and projects into their instruction, ranging from crafting to neurographic art designs. OCEC is pleased to see supplies being directly put into the hands of teachers and students.
Beth Mock and Andrea DeKing, art teachers at RTHS, indicated that they will use the majority of supplies to supplement and enrich students’ art experience in our classroom and include them in their curriculum for years to come.
This will provide the opportunity to explore media that students may not have been able to and open possibilities that they might not have had. They plan to spread their good fortune. For those supplies that don’t fit in with the art curriculum, they will offer those to clubs and teachers at the high school and then to District 231 if any are left over.
It is truly exciting that there will be an infusion of art across all school buildings.
Amy Henkel is an associate director of the Ogle County Education Cooperative.