Schoo students create compassionate scenes through new unified art class

May 12, 2025

Schoo Middle School students are painting beautiful pictures of empathy and compassion through their involvement in a new unified art class.
 
Students in the special education program and their peers are working together to create scenic moments in the elective course, which was launched this school year. They have built plastic pools out of magnet tiles, worked with colorful bubble art and developed images of spring weather in Nebraska.
 
Peer mentor Pierson said he has enjoyed the class, which is the first unified art course to be offered at Lincoln Public Schools. He talks with many people each day, but he spends the majority of his time helping Tyler with his projects. He said the class has reinforced his view that everyone should be treated with respect.
 
“Some kids are just really, really funny, and some others are really, really quiet, but they’re still really awesome,” Pierson said.
 
At the same time Pierson was working with Tyler one afternoon, fellow eighth grader Mathew guided his peer Gage in a magnet tile project. They picked out blue squares together to create the water for their outdoor oasis, and Gage added purple, yellow and red tiles for the walls. Both grinned as they watched their vision take shape on an art table.
 
“It’s been good to come here and help him smile,” Mathew said. “It’s helped with a lot of life skills.”
 
Schoo art teacher Beth Hawney has enjoyed leading the unified art course this year. The class uses a one-to-one model that builds partnerships between peer mentors and students in the special education program. They work on art projects that incorporate themes such as summer vacation, pets, homes, books, movies and weather.
 
“The unified art class has gone really well this year,” Hawney said. “We have been able to have students with disabilities work with peer mentors to create a classroom environment that enriches the art experience for all students. Students enjoy working together on projects and supporting each other as they learn and grow in the art classroom.”
 
Hawney came up with the idea for the unified art class last year after watching Schoo students take part in a unified physical education course that debuted in 2023-24. Other LPS buildings had developed unified opportunities in activities such as yearbook and sports, but no one had proposed a unified art class before.
 
Hawney said it has been exciting to see the concept flourish at Schoo.
 
“It’s really awesome,” Hawney said. “I feel like it’s really cool to have been able to be part of creating something that helps meet the needs of all the students and helps them build relationships and work together.”
 
Hawney structured the class to emphasize important life skills such as patience, empathy, understanding and cooperation. Instead of being evaluated on technical aspects of art such as texture, composition and design, students in the unified class are graded on how well they display more long-term actions.
 
“This class is more about participation and working together,” Hawney said. “They’re getting a grade based on whether they’re engaging together and working together, not necessarily on the end product.”
 
Pierson said the class has given him a valuable perspective that will last far beyond his time in Schoo’s hallways. It has made him think about how everyone is treated and how he would handle different situations in life.
 
“If I have a child in the future that has some sort of disability, this class can help me figure out and walk through things that might happen in the future,” Pierson said.
 
Hawney said it was important for peer mentors to develop that type of caring and considerate mindset. The class has also given students in the special education program a place where they can expand their teamwork and communication talents.
 
“We’re going to go into our jobs and our lives and have to work with all different types of people and have to have compassion for people that are different than us,” Hawney said. “We’re getting to see the peer mentors grow and expand in their abilities and their skills, but also our students with special needs are learning how to work with other students and learning how to grow in their abilities as well.”
 
Hawney’s goal is for even more Skyhawks to enroll in unified art in future years. She said the class is giving many eighth graders the chance to paint beautiful pictures of friendship and cooperation in their lives.
 
“I hope it just continues to grow,” Hawney said. “I hope that more students see what we’re doing here and want to be a part of it and want to learn those skills.”
 
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