Students at Traylor Academy imagine a different classroom
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DENVER — Paul and Linda McCartney’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” played in the background of a brightly lit classroom, construction paper masterpieces lining the walls and preschoolers scattering their work over the carpeted floor: it was the end of class for the early childhood education cohort at Traylor Academy.
About 20 three to five year olds lined up next to the door, giggling and whispering about the mess they just left. As they exited, the kindergarten class walked in, eyes wide.
“The ‘Artivore’ was here!” some of the students said as they rushed to pick up the art and supplies scattered around the classroom.
Barth Quenzer — “Mr. Q” to his students — walked around the room picking up the artwork along with the students. Without a single instruction, the kindergarteners started to clean the classroom.
Video: Peter Vo, Rocky Mountain PBS
In 2022, Quenzer developed the “Imaginarium” — a visual arts learning lab — at Traylor Academy in Denver Public Schools, collaborating with students to collectively take charge of their own learning.
“There’s a really big emphasis on students needing to grow in certain areas for standardized performance, but in order for kids to really love learning, we have to cultivate the love for learning first, that starts with everyone having a voice in that process,” Quenzer said.
Quenzer said the work done at Traylor is an experiment and a prototype as the student’s interests are always going to fluctuate. It’s more important for the students to have an opportunity to pursue those ideas and determine how they can learn from it, he said.
“The principal invited me in with open arms and creative freedom to develop a program that was inclusive of all students, built from their interests and their community,” Quenzer said.
Prior to working at Traylor Academy, Quenzer was a visual arts instructional curriculum specialist for Denver Public Schools.
Quenzer saw an opportunity to build a new program from the ground up when he noticed Traylor’s lack of visual arts classes.
Now, he’s in the room with the students, co-developing a learning environment with them.
“The learning lab has evolved into this idea of creating wonder, awe and joy for students in the class,” said Quenzer. “The idea of the Imaginarium is a space for imaginative ideas to play themselves out and for kids to pursue those ideas in this collaborative environment.”
At its core, the Imaginarium functions more as a hands-on method of learning, one where instructors prioritize students’ interests and collaboration. Compared to a traditional classroom where learning methods lean more towards lectures and a structured curriculum, the learning lab offers students a more flexible learning experience.
Cora Moore, 10, who’s been at Traylor Academy since pre-school, said that she plans on going to pursue art in middle school because of her experience in the Imaginarium.
“In the Imaginarium you can do it in your way, you don’t need to be copying something to learn,” Moore said. “You can have your own style, and I really like that.”
At Traylor Academy, the students have been designing how they want their visual arts class to be.
In kindergarten, the students and Quenzer frequently reference and base their daily activities around “The Artivore,” a mythological creature that eats art. Created by a past kindergartener named Jack, Quenzer now utilizes “The Artivore” as a way to introduce class activities.
Throughout the year, the Imaginarium hosts a wild rumpus (based on the children’s book “Where the Wild Things are”) in which students celebrate their artwork and see “the Artivore” come to life.
Quenzer uses a tiger mask from Haiti as the face of “the Artivore”. He stashes this alongside fur feet and other pieces of the costume inside a closet in the Imaginarium.
In April, the students worked on creating a mask with ears, horns and hair to tell a story about the character they will bring to the wild rumpus.
Utilizing this event that the students and Quenzer created, the students still learn visual arts skills and techniques while bringing their imaginations to life.
“We haven’t had art for a long time before Mr. Q,” said Deng Kuchdhal, 10. “It’s really nice to do creative projects and bring out our ideas.”
For second graders, Quenzer uses a “time machine”.
The students can use the time machine weekly to visit a historical period in human history. Whether it’s the Renaissance period or 13th century China, Quenzer will “bring back” a tool or artwork from that time, teaching the students art history.
“For second graders, that’s exactly what they need in their learning because they’re at an age where they’re so curious and inventive,” said Quenzer.
The learning lab shifts, depending on what grades the students are in and what the culture of the classroom is like.
For some students, this learning method is a way for them to process their own emotions and experiences in a safe and creative space.
“My favorite project in the Imaginarium was a project that we did around memory boxes,” said Brooklynn Muhall, 10. “In my box I was able to put in memories of my uncle who passed away from lung cancer but also create art and put in funny things about him.”
In addition to classes like math and literacy, students have access to “specials” teachers who teach classes like the Imaginarium and physical education. There’s also a school psychologist, a social worker and a therapist to meet students’ needs outside of the traditional classroom. This is part of Denver Public School’s mission to serve the “whole child” by providing mental health services in schools.
Quenzer compares the Imaginarium to an ecosystem, saying that it’s only one part of the whole picture. He said Traylor Academy is trying to cater to the “whole-child experience,” addressing the artistic, physical, intellectual, emotional and social sides of students.
“Students are far more comfortable with exploring the unknown parts of learning than teachers are,” Quenzer said.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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