Amanda talks with a student about his painting.

Last week’s guest blogger was Mark Farley, volunteer at Malcolm X Academy. This week, Amanda, another Malcolm X volunteer, shares her experience painting with the kids.

One of my favorite parts of volunteering with Brush Fire was seeing how the kids’ personalities always came through in their distinctive painting styles. I see this as a testament to the success of Brush Fire’s process-not-product focus: rather than competing to produce the result that fit a teacher’s expectation, the kids seemed free to explore their own ideas and techniques.

It was especially exciting to watch kids who were originally unenthusiastic or lacking in confidence discover that painting can be really satisfying. I remember watching something click in one fifth grader, who was sullen and skeptical the first day I volunteered, when she realized that painting an explosive, angry tornado to depict her bad day helped her release those negative emotions. She came in to class bitter and silent and left giggling, and the next week she came in excited to get her “anger management out.”