Fresno Fire & Metal School for Industrial Arts is founded by Debra Cooper Havens. A passionate industrial artist herself, she saw the need to reach out to the community of Fresno by offering scholarships to under-privileged youths. Its mission: to allow everyone in the local community of Fresno to take a Fresno Fire & Metal class in order to experience art in a variety of ways that are diverse from the traditional setting.

Another important mission of Fresno Fire & Metal is to bring resources to those who are willing to explore and excel in the field of metal crafts, but do not have the means for training. Debra saw the need to reach out to students while she was teaching at a local high school. A contract must first be established between teacher and student, either in middle or high school level. FFM hopes to target first Remedial Reading teachers, focusing on students that who – due to some reason or another – are having difficulties in attaining their recommended reading skills. By centering on the children’s creativity, FFM will be able to promote confidence in them, thus providing an avenue for improved academic performance.

Once an agreement between teacher and student is reached, an FFM staff will then meet with the teacher in order to come up with a plan that will suit the student. Once the student is able to complete the requirements, a spot in a class is then awarded to the student. The class will either be held during the weekends, or it can be a one-night-a-week quarter class. Fresno Fire & Metal aims to target children early enough in hopes that they will be able to catch the art bug, which can encourage the children to keep on working in order to achieve the requirements of the contract, and continue on with their academics.

For more information on the scholarship and how you can help, visit: Fresno Fire and Metal

Donna Paulino covers most of the topic for the Fresno Interactive Network, including interviews, profiles, and articles that inspire our readers about our local community. She is the social media manager and web producer for Socient, a Fresno web marketing agency that helps non-profit and community benefit organizations thrive with social media marketing, search engine optimization, and web design.

Follow her on Twitter:  @donnapaulino

(0) Comments | (0) Trackback | Permalink