Elodie Giles, 8-Year-Old Houston Girl, Donates Allowance Money To Save School Art Classes

Alarmed that her favorite class, and its teacher, might be axed amid school budget cuts, Houston girl Elodie Giles wanted to help.

The 8-year-old Travis Elementary School student donated $20 worth of allowance money to help her school hang on to her beloved art class, KTRK-TV reports.

Last week, a California 5th grader also dug into her piggy bank to help her school.

Unfortunately, their donations aren't enough.

With drastic education budget cuts across the nation, schools are forced to scale back on the classes they can offer and lay off teachers.

WATCH:

Comments

[Dreamofflowers]

10:10 PM on 03/16/2011

This is so sad...

[onwisconsin]

11:07 PM on 03/15/2011

The arts should be central to the elementary curriculum but are, sadly, one of the first parts of the curriculum to be put on the chopping block.

I get tired of hearing how we need to create more scientists and mathematicians. We also need to create more poets, artists, musicians, and dancers as well as people who will pay to go see them perform or read their verse. All children can be profoundly affected by excellent arts curricula. It matters not what line of work in which they find themselves 25 years later. What matters is that we develop beings with creativity, passion, compassion, and the ability to emote and connect. We are in great danger of losing this part of us in the testing craze. We are bringing up children to fill in bubbles with blank eyes and empty hearts because we are schooling their passions out of them, some as early as the end of kindergarten.

It's not too late to turn this around. It begins with allowing the time and space for creativity. The arts -- something we must not lose for our children.

[carmenalex]

10:21 AM on 03/16/2011

You are very right...but not only that, a good art class at this age can be a form of occupational therapy...strengthening hand muscles and improving hand-eye coordination, and improving handwriting. The benefits are limitless. Music class is tied to math class. School should be a place kids want to go to, and if you take away key elements that the kids enjoy (and benefit from), high school drop out rates will rise (as it already has).

[onwisconsin]

12:16 PM on 03/16/2011

You're singing my song!

[milfytime]

10:43 PM on 03/15/2011

Oh wow, so now when people complain about paying taxes I can tell them that an 8 year old has a better sense of civic duty than they do. Fantastic! There is hope after all!

[minidriver]

10:41 PM on 03/15/2011

I'll vote for this girl to replace Guv Goodhair here in Texas. At least she knows how to save money and understands priorities on what it should be spent on.

[madisonhack]

10:34 PM on 03/15/2011

This isn't cute. This is a form of domestic terrorism. The girl has been traumatized by people who could care less about children and everything about Bagger ideology and the privatization of public schools.

[eceresa]

06:06 PM on 03/15/2011

Could we get one of these kids to be the new governor of Wisconsin, another to be the new governor of Michigan, and a third to be the replacement Secretary of Education?

Bound to be an improvement in all three cases.

[madisonhack]

10:35 PM on 03/15/2011

Better hurry - Wisconsin is getting ready for another gubernatorial election in a few months.