Three area elementary schools recently received M.B. Seretean Foundation grants for art projects. The arts-in-education competitive grant is available annually to elementary teachers in Dalton, Murray and Whitfield schools. Grant funds may be expended in any area of the fine arts– visual arts, music, theater, dance — to expand and enhance student arts experiences. 

Park Creek School students will integrate glass slumping into interdisciplinary art, music and science projects. In science class they will study how glass is made and how to melt it and then create glass artwork. 

Varnell Elementary School students will “Meet the Masters,” studying famous artists and using those artists’ techniques to create their own artwork. Kindergarten and first grade students will meet Monet, then use oil pastels and watercolors. Second- and third-graders will meet Rodrigue, read his Blue Dog books and work with tempera and oil pastels. Fourth and fifth grade students will meet Van Gogh and use tempera and oil pastels. 

Woodlawn Elementary School students will learn a variety of line dances — the Cha-Cha Slide, the Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle and others — during physical education classes. Dance movements will increase motor skills and use sequence memory. After-school dances will afford additional practice opportunities. 

The Seretean grants are administered through the local Oscar N. Jonas Foundation. The late businessman Bud Seretean was an early and generous contributor to the Creative Arts Guild. His friendship with Oscar Jonas led him to be a founding member and later chairperson of the Jonas Foundation. The Seretean Foundation continues to be a Jonas Foundation donor. Due to his strong support of arts education, the Seretean Foundation honors his memory with these grants.