Our Initiative
Project Creates
Connecting Community Resources, Encouraging All Teachers to Educate with Spirit
About the Program
A Huge Success
Project Creates was a huge success! We started out with an idea that we could bring so much value to the classroom to both children and teachers. Over the course of the program we collected data on several aspects of the program and have composed them into a summary of our findings.
Project CREATES, Inc., “Connecting Community Resources, Encouraging All Teachers to Educate with Spirit” is a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit organization, operating in the Tulsa Public Schools since 2000. Our mission is to provide educational reform and transformation through the arts for schools of need in Tulsa.
CREATES is unique in that the arts are embedded into the core curriculum and used to help teachers reach all standards and benchmarks. Tulsa’s best professional artists, in all disciplines, partner to teach with classroom teachers in all subject areas. Children have direct and frequent contact with true professional artists who are helping them to learn the basic subjects as well as all the standards in art.
View Research Paper
Based on a five-year research study conducted by an acclaimed research team from Oklahoma State University, it is clear that this model both accelerates and deepens learning.
Download Summary of Findings (PDF)The Impact
2000
Founded in Tulsa Public Schools
5-Year
OSU Research Study Conducted
4+
Public Elementary Schools Served
Classroom Activities
Interactive Lessons
CREATES is a real program for real teachers and real students. A major local study within Tulsa Public Schools shows conclusively that learning is accelerated and both teachers and students are happier and view themselves as being more creative.
Art infusion is available to all children at Project CREATES schools. Any and all support for this special Project is welcomed, and tours of any of the CREATES schools are cheerfully offered at any time. Together we are making public education the best that it can be.
For Educators
Professional Development
“Tulsa teachers just can’t wait for the next CREATES professional development!”
CREATES workshops fully engage teachers in all of the art disciplines. Throughout the school year, teachers dance, sing, paint, act and write at weekend workshops. With the assistance of CREATES staff and local professional artists, teachers explore and develop confidence in their own creativity.
Professional development supports teachers, artists, and coaches in working collaboratively to make learning interesting, active, and fun. This increases student retention and makes learning more creative for all who participate. Our research shows that as a teacher’s creativity grows it transfers directly to the classroom experience.
Curriculum
Teacher Resources
These lesson plans represent samples of the art infusion that took place in four public elementary schools over the past 5 years. All lesson plans were co-created by teams that included classroom teachers, professional artists, and Arts Resource Coaches.
Contact Project Creates
“The winds of change are blowing. We can build a wall or we can build a windmill. CREATES is the windmill for Tulsa classrooms.”