My A.R.T.S. Kids

My A.R.T.S. Kids is a 501(C)(3) organization founded in 2005 by Meghan Muncher. This organization is dedicated to the continued awareness and education of the qualities that Fine Arts training can provide to our children and communities. Today many children face a potentially less than promising future unless they are provided with the right venue to find their talents. Many communities have been and are now negatively impacted by one child not reaching their potential in life because they didn’t have the right educational opportunities to develop the gifts they had been given. This is where the fine arts shine; as an additional venue where children can develop a more complete understanding of their strengths. Often, the arts are the only outlet for gifted students who may not initially excel academically, but who find this creative venue to be a wonderful method for expanding their self-confidence which leads to their improvement and success in the classroom and beyond. Therefore, Meghan Elizabeth Muncher, while an 18-year old college freshman initiated a program, My A.R.T.S. Kids, to assist in returning the fines arts to a more prominent place in our schools. She identified four ways in which this mission can succeed with her acronym A.R.T.S.; ACTION to get children involved, REACH-OUT to the underprivileged as well as the privileged, TEACH the opportunities the arts create, and provide SUPPORT to achieve this need for fine arts in our schools. To "walk the talk", Meghan's plan began when she first established My A.R.T.S. Kids as an after-school program for children interested in Fine Arts Education. Since then it has grown immensely and expanded in such ways as; •Mobilizing attorneys and accountants to volunteer their time in the incorporation of My A.R.T.S. Kids and received a federal 501-C-3 Non-Profit Organization Status. •Mobilizing local volunteers as qualified Board Members, Fine Arts Advisors, Teachers, and Organization Executives to support and strengthen My A.R.T.S. Kids programs. •Lobbying the Alabama House Majority Leader, Ken Guin, and other House and Senate members about her organization and the benefits the students have experienced. They have given her their support. •Traveling to over and spoken to communities across the State of Alabama promoting and discussing her program My A.R.T.S. Kids. •Been adopted into the three state school systems where she personally teaches weekly, along with her volunteers, dance, music, and other visual arts classes and also holds My A.R.T.S. Kids Summer Camps. •Developed a website www.myartskids.org that promotes Fine Arts Awareness and other fine arts activities that can be used by other educators. •Created three storyline fine arts characters, Lizzy, Marcus, and Maria who succeed in the academic classroom because of the confidence and discipline the arts instilled in them. •Written and illustrated a “Lizzy’s Story” coloring book that has been or is being provided free-of charge to over 10,000 K-5 through and 5th grade students. •Initiated a fine arts tuition program that provides financial support to elementary students with a passion for the fine arts so they may participate in private fine arts classes.