Dear Friends,

As an educator, I am so grateful for SJMA’s Sowing Creativity program, which has enriched the lives of hundreds of the students I have served as a teacher at Washington Elementary School and now as the principal of Canoas Elementary School.

As a third-grade teacher at Washington Elementary in 2020, I reached out to SJMA hoping to find meaningful ways to engage students through distance learning. I was thrilled to discover their Sowing Creativity program for Title One schools, which introduces students to fun art-making lessons intersecting with math, science, and engineering. SJMA arts educators not only brought a much-needed lifeline to our exhausted teaching staff, but they went above and beyond in bringing exceptional arts education to each of our third-grade students—not an easy task to accomplish through a computer screen! They even put together take-home art kits to ensure that students had the supplies needed for their Sowing Creativity lessons.

Each member of Washington's third-grade teaching team expressed their appreciation for the quality of instruction in the Sowing Creativity program, as well as the patience and level of preparedness of the SJMA arts instructors. They were especially grateful for the access SJMA provided for both our Spanish speakers and our students within the special education program. 

After having such a wonderful experience with SJMA programs as a teacher, I was excited to bring their arts education to more classrooms this year. I am now serving as principal of Canoas Elementary, a Title One school in South San José that houses both a general education program and the district's only special day classes for elementary school students with moderate to severe autism. There has not been a formal arts education program at the school site within the last decade, so the impact of SJMA’s Sowing Creativity program has been exponential. Not only do SJMA art educators go into all classrooms, enthusiastically embracing the opportunity to meet the needs of all our children, but they are also instrumental in providing key professional development for our instructional staff.  

Our partnership with SJMA has been transformative for our classrooms. When you make a gift to the San José Museum of Art, you are also supporting teachers and students across the South Bay, whose lives are enriched by SJMA’s education programs. I hope that you will ensure that these programs remain a resource for San José schools. 

Give a Gift Today
Sincerely, 

Allison Pruitt,
Principal, Canoas Elementary, and SJMA Member

PS: If you have any questions about the Museum or your gift, please contact Jessica Kwong at jkwong@sjmusart.org.

The Museum's tax ID number is 23-7062028.