Sara Berkley is an art facilitator for our Life Enrichment Education Program. She helps our LEEP students express themselves through art by adapting art projects to make them accessible to students experiencing complex disabilities.
Sara’s art projects often have a tactile emphasis which helps engage her students in the work. She encourages her students to experiment with different mediums, from paint to clay to collage, and to try unconventional ways of working with art materials, like applying paint with dish sponges, squirt bottles or their hands.
While beautiful, Sara’s projects are not just art for art’s sake. Art is a powerful way to build skills that are important to students’ learning.
“Art helps students develop many skills such as language, self-expression, independence, and increased attention span through engagement,” Sara explains.
Sara celebrates her students’ creations by displaying their artwork as many ways as possible, such as at galleries, art shows, conventions and the permanent collection at the Clackamas ESD headquarters. Several works by her students are displayed in our Clackamas ESD 2022 Regional Art Show.
Sara has worked in education for 30 years, and began working at Clackamas ESD as a LEEP educational assistant 15 years ago. She shared her love of art with the students in her class in the Estacada School District by working with them on adapted art projects.
The positive impact of art on the students was clear, and six years ago the art facilitator position was created for her so she could bring the joy of art to all of our LEEP classrooms throughout Clackamas County.
“We are now known statewide for having a program that allows students to express themselves,” says Linda Brown, vice chair of the Clackamas ESD Board of Directors. “I love the responses that we get from people when they see the students’ work. They are excited; they had no idea that something so lovely, so expressive, could come from kids who they thought of as not necessarily having too much to express.”
As Sara approaches her retirement next year, she looks back on her work as LEEP’s art facilitator with pride.
“Students with disabilities have been underserved in many ways. And when it comes to education, the arts are often overlooked. But not in our LEEP program,” Sara says. “It is so rewarding to see a student who resisted participating in art at first, later come running over to the table to see what new art project I had brought that day. I am so honored to bring a splash of color into our students’ lives.
“If we can get them engaged they can go so far. Get them interested and they can prove to us all they can do.”
