Education

Arts Education Mission

Jump-Start Performance Co.’s Arts Education Program builds long-term collaborations with schools, organizations, youth, and other community members. We believe that teaching multidisciplinary arts techniques and critical thinking skills nurtures mutual respect and individual creativity to effect dynamic change in our community.

Vision

Art is a powerful tool for empowering individuals to discover constructive ways to make their voices heard, to impact their communities, and to take control of their future. Through the arts, individuals can hone higher-level thinking skills, explore group processes, problem-solve for the future, develop creative potential and self-esteem, learn multidisciplinary processes (using various arts disciplines), and enhance cognitive development. In its educational work, Jump- Start plays a pioneering role in creating programs that focus on long-term collaboration and integrating the arts with social issues and academic achievement.

Historias y Cuentos

Established in 1991, Historias y Cuentos (Stories and Tales) is Jump-Start’s oldest arts education program in operation since 1991 at Bonham Academy and 2014 at Woodlawn Academy in the San Antonio Independent School District. The program’s goals are to integrate arts into the school curriculum, encourage group process through cooperation, develop creative problem-solving skills, cultivate artistic abilities, and promote appreciation of individual and cultural diversity. Students engage in the visual, literary, digital, and performing arts through projects that are based on academic curriculum, as well as social issues that impact their lives.

Girl Power!

The Girl Power! program at Bonham Academy focuses on the creation of art that inspires empowerment for young girls. In addition, this after-school program provides hands-on experiences with the arts, including visual, literary, and performance.

Endeavors Fairweather Programs

Jump-Start Performance Co. has partnered with Endeavors Fairweather Program, formerly Family Endeavors, since the late 1990’s with the addition of the Family Lodge program in 2005. Jump-Start teaching artists take pride in the work that they bring to both Fairweather Lodge and the Fairweather Family Lodge, valuing the creation of art as a necessary process for all children and adults.  We believe that creating art helps us understand ourselves by exploring possibilities and quieting our minds and spirits. In a nutshell, art heals.

Fairweather Lodge

Fairweather Lodge is a collaboration between Jump-Start Performance Co. and Family Endeavors utilizing the arts to assist adults with chronic mental illness. Participants are Lodge residents in a long-term program that includes housing, job training, work opportunities, life-skill training, illness monitoring, and other assistance. Through arts techniques, participants can discover and explore their own self-worth, hone their higher-level thinking skills, explore group processes, and practice problem-solving. Jump-Start teaching artists and Fairweather staff co-teach life-skill training and arts curriculum. Sessions deal with themes such as weight management, dietary needs, medication, coping skills, the stigma of mental illness, exercise, and financial services. The arts are incorporated into the curriculum to reinforce the training.

Fairweather Family Lodge

In 2005, Jump-Start expanded its services to include the Fairweather Family Lodge, a transitional facility for mothers with chronic mental illness and their children. Jump-Start’s teaching artists work with the children to explore visual, literary, and performing arts, build self-esteem, and participate in collaborative art projects.