By Jenn Barbera
I am a self-contained special education teacher. In my classroom, I incorporate life skills in many ways; from cooking, to cleaning, to running a coffee cart. But having life skills is more than having just those skills.
When I was coming up with my idea for a grant from the Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education, social-emotional learning (SEL) and mental health were always in the back of my head. Both of those topics are something I am passionate about, and I wanted a way to incorporate these other life skills into my programming.
At my core, I am not an artist, however, having the chance to be creative is a way I relieve my stress. With all of this on my mind, I discovered art therapy, and through that, Supervisor of Student Initiatives Christine Broski and I discovered Samantha Commarato, an art therapist who spends an hour a month in my classroom.
Students express themselves through art
Art is a way to express yourself. It’s a way to communicate, and that is why I believe art is so effective in the classroom. Throughout these last few months, the students have worked on various projects in the classroom under the guidance of Commarato. The first month, the students discussed their feelings and drew and colored a picture that represented how they were feeling.
For example, one student drew Mario in red because Mario makes him happy. Another student drew a green smiley face. I drew a pink smiley face, because I was happy and pink makes me feel happy. The students then illustrated their names with their favorite color.
In the second month, the students had the option of drawing a cut-out person or creating something with clay. The goal of this activity was for students to create something that represents who they are. The students’ projects spanned a wide range, including a dog, a person with a music note, a person with flowers, a sunflower and pizza. The students then created their own community for their creations.
We named the community Chillville, which consisted of a pizza parlor, a movie theater, an art studio, a gym, a store that sells everything, and, of course, the sun and flowers, to represent joy.
Students created stress monsters in the third month. Once again, the students had the option to use clay or draw a picture. The goal of this project was for the students to reflect on what makes them stressed, and what they think their monster would look like. For example, my monster had a spinning head because that is how I envision stress.
My favorite project came in the fourth month, and it was the opposite of stress monsters. The students were instructed to think of something that makes them happy or calm and to illustrate that. The pictures varied from Mario Kart, to Fortnite, to a butterfly, to an ocean at night and numerous other drawings. At the end of the session, students shared why they drew what they drew. The art is displayed in my classroom.
The fifth month consisted of two sessions and was a two-part project. The students created masks. The outside of their mask demonstrated how people see them on the outside, while the inside of the mask demonstrated the students see themselves on the inside. This was another of my favorite projects!
Art benefits everyone
I have a few students in my class who love art and who ask me every day when Commarato will come back. I have some students in my class who are not artists, but they enjoy when she comes because it is a calming period. The students are relaxed, reflecting and understanding the importance of these leisure activities as well as taking care of themselves.
“Watching students engage in art therapy activities has been wonderful!” says my colleague Claudia Savickas, an art teacher. “Students fully commit to their projects, even those who don’t consider themselves artists. They gain an understanding of how art serves the maker and acts as a tool for better mental health. Not only is this what social-emotional learning is all about; it’s what art should be about, all the time!”
For me, this project has been huge. Mental health and SEL are each something that I am passionate about, and I try to incorporate them as much as I can into my lessons. I have really loved seeing how my students rise to the occasion of welcoming a new adult and a new initiative—something that might be out of their comfort zones.
Although not everyone in the class loves art, I can tell that everyone is benefiting from the project, even if they don’t realize it. Something very meaningful that we have learned is that there are no mistakes in art. This is a theme that can be brought to the classroom at times when students face other challenges when Commarato isn’t there.
The social and emotional well-being of our students is crucial to their growth and development. The Hipp grant has provided an opportunity for our students to better understand themselves through the use of art.
“This experience will undoubtedly impact them not only as learners in the classroom but as individuals creating a strong sense of self and resiliency,” says Supervisor of Student Initiatives Christine Broski. “We are grateful for this grant, the hard work of Ms. Barbera, and our visiting Art Therapist Samantha Commarato.”
Jenn Barbera is a special education teacher at Arthur L. Johnson High School in the Clark Public School District in Union County. She can be reached at jennbarbera95@gmail.com.
Apply for an NJEA Hipp Grant
Grants from the NJEA Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence in Education help educators bring creative ideas to life. The only foundation of its kind in New Jersey, the Hipp Foundation supports initiatives to promote excellence in education. More than $2.6 million in grants for innovative educational projects that represent a bold, fresh approach by public school employees have already been awarded.
Apply for a Hipp grant and bring your innovative ideas to life. The portal will open July 1 and the deadline is March 1, 2026. Grants range from $500 to $10,000. Learn more at njea.org/hipp.