It’s not just soldiers who are deployed overseas

Bringing American Art to American kids abroad

Men and women in the military are often deployed along with their families, whose children attend Department of Defense schools on military bases around the world. Amy Kehs reports on how SAAM is bringing the Smithsonian to kids who may never have set foot in the U.S.

It’s 4 a.m. and the lights are on in the Victor building offices of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Fueled by coffee, midnight snacks and the excited little giggles coming from her computer speaker, Marin Williams leads a lesson via live video conference for young students on the other side of the globe in Okinawa, Japan. But these aren’t just any students and this isn’t just any classroom. They are the children of U.S. soldiers and Department of Defense civilians who are deployed overseas. Some of these children have lived their entire lives on many military bases and may not have had the chance to visit a Smithsonian museum. Some have yet to even see the United States.

Through SAAM’s project with the DoD Education Activity, these students receive rich, arts-integrated curriculum while also building a connection to the Smithsonian Institution and their country.

Mission control for SAAM’s collaborative effort with DoD schools around the world. (Photo by Carol Wilson)

The collaboration with DoDEA began in 2004 while SAAM was closed for renovations. DoDEA manages 191 schools on military bases in seven states, 12 foreign countries, Guam and Puerto Rico. When the project began, the SAAM’s education team would send a physical video conference “unit” to the schools. As demand and interest in the program has grown over the last 15 years, and as the technology has improved, the process has gotten easier and more streamlined.

“We really thought that this would be a short-term project that the education staff could work on while the physical space of our museum was closed to the public. I’m so thrilled at how much it has grown and how much it has helped teachers and students,” said SAAM’s Lunder Education Chair Carol Wilson. “Since 2004, we have conducted 1,547 videoconferences for over 37,000 students in 71 DoDEA schools throughout the United States, Bahrain, Cuba, Germany, Guam, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.”

Carol’s amazing distance learning team includes Peg Koetsch and Marin Williams. They tag team an impressive and busy schedule in two video conferencing studios located in the Victor Building. During the 2017-2018 school year, the team developed 178 curriculum resources and integrated classroom activities.

Peg Koetsch in the studio. (Photo by Amy Kehs)

This morning, Marin is standing in front of a green screen and taking questions from the students in Okinawa. Surprisingly, her lesson isn’t part of an art class. It’s a history lesson. Curriculum for art classes makes up just 20 percent of the lessons that Peg and Marin prepare. The rest of their lesson plans are arts-integrated lessons for STEM, history, English-language arts, and student-created school exhibits. Many of the lessons are cross-curricular, meaning they have incorporate more than one subject, and all of them have been custom-created for the teachers.

“Arts integration encourages critical thinking skills and stimulates curiosity. However, there’s another added bonus to arts integration and our cross-curriculum approach. In these schools, it isn’t unusual to see teachers having to double up on subjects,” says Marin. “The science teacher may also need to be the art teacher. So, our assistance not only helps the students make connections and develop new skills but it is also a great help to the teachers as well.”

Peg Koetsch (left) and Marin Williams demonstrate how the green screen wall in the studio allows them to interact in real time. (Photo by Carol Wilson)

So, what is a typical lesson like? “Each lesson begins with a quick geography lesson,” Peg says. “It’s important for the students to see where we are, what the museum looks like, and the other monuments and museums close by.”

Marin adds, “We’ve gotten letters and phone calls from children who have been our students and finally get to come to Washington, D.C. They have an instant connection from our lessons that makes them feel some ownership and pride in their home and history.”

The lessons draw from the more than 30,000 digitized works of art from the SAAM collection and they all ask critical-thinking questions about the pieces that are being discussed. In addition to the lessons, the team also offers two very popular projects: the “Student Created School Exhibits” program, where Marin and Peg teach students to transform their school into an interactive museum and an annual Student Art Contest.

An enthusiastic Marin Williams delivers a lesson on poetry through the use of green screen technology and video conferencing. (Photo by Carol Wilson)

Is it tough staying up all night and being ready to teach to a group of excited students? “No, because I’m excited too! We really love what we’re doing because of the positive and educational impact it makes on the students. But, yes, after the excitement of class is over, getting through the rest of the work day can sometimes be a bit of a challenge!” Peg says.

Carol, Peg and Marin’s enthusiasm and excitement really is contagious. This little known Smithsonian educational outreach program is not only “increasing and diffusing knowledge” but it is providing a real connection to some of our most important young citizens.

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