Art Education Students Teach Jewelry-Making to Village at Penn State Residents

December 1, 2005

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — Penn State art and art education students recently shared their skills and gained valuable teaching experience when they taught a jewelry-making class to residents of The Village at Penn State.

The Penn State students guided a class of 15-20 Village residents in making pendants and necklaces using wire-wrapping techniques. Lauren Stetz, a senior art education major and president of the Penn State student chapter of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association, initiated the volunteer opportunity so students could apply their artistic and pedagogical skills while working with the elderly.

“This program bridges the gap between the young and the old in a manner in which both parties benefit. Students have the opportunity to gain teaching experience, as well as share the joys of art-making with seniors,” says Stetz. “Elderly students benefit because the art classes provide them with a recreational and social activity, as well as new opportunities to learn and to think creatively.”

Although Stetz will step down from her PAEA position in order to student-teach during the spring 2006 semester, she says she hopes the Penn State PAEA chapter will continue the volunteer teaching program in the future.

Contact: Amy Milgrub Marshall, alm157@psu.edu or 814.863.2104