Letter: Art education runs deep in Cloquet

To the editor:

Exploring art and culture is important for everyone because it connects us and brings our community together. Culture is a part of people's lives, history and family. If one culture doesn't know about another culture, how will we learn more about each other? How will we know what other people are thinking?

At Cloquet Middle School we want to learn about other cultures. Sometimes we don't respect each others' differences, because we don't always understand.

When working with our Anishinabe guest artist Sarah Agaton Howes, we learned more about Anishinabe culture and the Ojibwe language. We learned that plants can have different meanings, like the strawberry, ode'imin, which means "heart berry." We got to see Ojibwe floral designs and also tried drawing things we hadn't drawn before. We learned that all cultures are important, even ones you don't know very well, and that you can have fun learning languages.

When others support us in learning more about art and culture, we are proud, feel a sense of belonging and we listen and try to understand harder. We feel like a community.

To the Cloquet Educational Foundation and the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council: You are helpful and caring, you gave us an opportunity to learn, and you are awesome. If you hadn't supported us, we wouldn't have had this experience. All of the sixth-graders at Cloquet Middle School thank you.

You can watch a video by reading the QR code found here or going online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAFgSmrJVE8