Social and emotional learning led the way during an art activity at Tamarac Elementary School, as fifth grade students participated in a lesson facilitated by art teacher Alexis Curcio and Social and Emotional Learning Chairperson Lauren Gonzalez.

As part of the comprehensive lesson, students learned about the African American artist Aaron Douglas and the art he released during the Harlem Renaissance. Through studying his art, students identified how the people depicted in his art may have been feeling by identifying how different facial expressions show emotion.

Before they began the activity, each class participated in a meditation and shared how they felt after engaging in the meditation. Students then utilized mirrors and Sharpie markers to draw photobooth-style self-awareness portraits of themselves displaying their emotions.