Best of the Bronx: Art teacher at school for the blind

<p>Jessica Jones, an art teacher at the Lavelle School for the Blind, is using her disability to help her students gain confidence.</p>

News 12 Staff

May 2, 2018, 9:13 PM

Updated 2,178 days ago

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One teacher in the Bronx is using her disability to help her students gain confidence in and out of the classroom.
Jessica Jones, an art teacher at the Lavelle School for the Blind, lost her vision 16 years ago to type 1 diabetes. Jones says she feared that she wouldn't be able to teach or make art anymore, but decided there was no time to worry about such things.
Jones uses her positive attitude to help teach her students that no matter what, they can do anything. Her students get hands-on with their art by creating sculptures and paintings. 
"I am constantly awestruck by the ways that I see them making adaptations on their own,"  says Jones.
The students also do a lot of projects by using things they can feel to create their work. They also do things such as drawing and painting.
"They will make a drawing and when they are finished they will be able to tell you exactly what it is and point out different parts of the image cause they are seeing it as they make it," says Jones.
The school didn't have an art program before Jones joined the staff in 2006. Now, the kids put on yearly shows.
Jones says it's been amazing to watch the kids grow.


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