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The History of SHARP Literacy, Inc.
This Student Historical Art Resource Program has grown from a simple observation of how children react to art to an empirically sound educational initiative that has been proven to have significant direct educational benefits to students. SHARP began in 1996 as an arts education outreach program developed in partnership with the Milwaukee Art Museum to encourage cross-discipline studies. The program grew out of the director’s experience as a docent at the Art Museum where she observed that art animates children’s imaginations. She collaborated with some of Milwaukee’s top educators to develop a grade-specific curriculum that incorporated art as a vehicle to learning about core subjects such as Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. Eventually, the SHARP program grew beyond the scope of the Art Museum, becoming an independent non-profit with 501(c)(3) status in 1999.
In that year, SHARP served over 900 students, operating in 13 Milwaukee area schools. Initially implemented in only the second and fifth grades, SHARP introduced the third grade curriculum in 2001 and fourth grade the following year. Since that time, the population served has grown steadily, serving over 48,000 students and teachers. Thus, SHARP Literacy has developed from reaching a few schools and several hundred children to partnerships this year with 32 Milwaukee-area schools, serving over 5,000 students and 300 educators. |
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