Chesapeake Arts Center
We are an AACPS: Business/Community Partnership | 2020 Business Partner of the Year Nominee
Recognized for their support of AACPS by Ruth Parker Eason School
Chesapeake Arts Center’s (CAC) partnership with Ruth Parker Eason School has grown to support our students and schools in many ways.
In Our Greeting Card Initiative, high school students at Ruth Eason are developing their creativity and skills by making greeting cards for all occasions. The CAC promotes the cards by prominently displaying them at their studio and selling them for our students. This program affords students the opportunity for self-expression with an authentic community connection.
Funds raised from the card sales, and generous discounts from the CAC, enable middle and high school students from Ruth Parker Eason to see a specialized theatre performance. The CAC provides our students early preferential seating, an exclusive entrance, and public recognition. The CAC has set up performances that include performers with disabilities, multi-sensory experiences, and modified presentations. These unique performances allow students to more fully engage with the performing arts in their community with support and respect.
This year, 20 students of all ages from Ruth Eason are participating in an adapted ceramics class at CAC. Each week, students explore the creation of ceramics by forming clay into their own personal masterpieces. The adapted ceramics class has provided students with special needs an authentic artist’s workshop that exposes them to various components of art and creativity, which could not otherwise be obtained.
Through The Makerspace, an afterschool collaboration between CAC and Brooklyn Middle School, Ruth Eason School will receive a flower box and bench; both created by the middle school students! The mutual benefits of this interconnected partnership positively impact multiple communities and a diverse group of students from both schools.
The staff, students, and families of Ruth Eason School are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of the CAC’s talents and generosity. This partnership has provided individuals with special needs meaningful and unique experiences, which connect them to the arts and our community!
