Are You Afraid of BATS?

by Penny Shrawder

For those of you who love art or love to work with children, we invite you to join us in this most-rewarding community activity. Oftentimes, people would like to help, but have reservations about getting in front of the class, or may not know a thing about art, or how to teach. We are here to dispel those fears. After all, in the French language, a bat is just a chauve-souris (bald mouse). How scary can that be?

Here are a few common fears and fear-busters.

I've never taught before.
We make it easy for you. For the first step, we encourage you to sit in on a class given by another BATS volunteer. You will most likely help the volunteer when it comes to the art project, as teachers love a helping hand, thus finding out how much fun it is. Classes run 1 to 1-1/2 hours max; they start with a simple lesson, followed by student questions, then the art project.

Once you see the process, we know you will feel more comfortable teaching your own class. When you decide you want to teach, you are given a program that will guide you through the topic, including simple notes on what to say, and sample projects from which to choose. You will have plenty of time to study them before your class.

I don't know anything about art.
These classes are Kindergarden through the fifth grade. If you are familiar with construction paper, markers, glitter, and such, I'm sure you will feel comfortable. Each lesson has sample projects from previous classes, so you will be able to choose your project. All supplies are located at each school.

We will be offering a few art classes to help volunteers learn new art techniques and mediums such as watercolor, printmaking, etc. We invite you to take a few of these classes to become familiar with the art process.

I want to be an assistant.
We are happy to have your help as an assistant. This is a great way to get to know the program, and there are several art projects that require extra help. We hope in time that you will want to give teaching a try on your own, and we are here to help you along the way.

I travel a lot and cannot commit to specific days to teach.
When you are in town and would like to be a back up teacher, please let us know the dates you are available, and when we need help it is so comforting to know we have volunteers available. School teachers have their classes so carefully planned that we try to avoid canceling a class as it is difficult on the teacher. Bottom line, we keep our promises as best as we can and we always need back up help.

We appreciate your consideration in helping the BATS program. If you would like further information, have any questions, or would like to sign up, please call Tahoe Art League at 530-544-2313.