Building Skills and Confidence Through Creativity: A Conversation with Ryan Atkins

For Ryan Atkins, a Chicago native teaching at a charter school located on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, teaching was always about more than textbooks. When Atkins began her career in teaching, she noticed many of her students had never been given the chance to experience art, let alone any form of self-expression. Many of her students had never even held a paintbrush. "Some of them didn't even know what art was," Atkins said. "To see them doing something completely new—that was very inspirational."

Atkins had been teaching for two years when she was introduced to Painting Pandas, a non-profit empowering teachers through standards-aligned art curriculum that integrates contemporary art, storytelling, and cultural history into core subjects like reading and science—featuring interactive digital lessons, hands-on projects, and comprehensive teaching resources that make art central to students' everyday learning. Integrating this curriculum into her classroom became a turning point for her students, and for her own perspective as an educator.

"It wasn't just about painting," Atkins explained. "They got into the stories, the readings, the backgrounds of different artists. It gave them something to connect to." Before using Painting Pandas, Atkins said the art curriculum felt flat. "It was mostly PowerPoint slides. Everything was very step by step. It didn't go very deep," she said. "But with Painting Pandas, the lessons became more in-depth and educational. They connected to reading, science, social studies—it all tied together."

The response from her students was immediate; for many, this was their favorite day of the week. "They were excited. They were happy when Painting Pandas day came around," Atkins said. "They looked forward to it. They couldn't wait to see what we were going to do." That excitement showed up in more than just their faces; this translated into academic growth, especially in reading. Many students were still struggling with fluency after COVID, yet Atkins encouraged them to participate. "I like everybody to read out loud. Even when they didn't know the word, they tried," she said. "That courage—to keep going even when it was hard—was so inspirational."

The social and emotional benefits were just as present as their progress in academics. Atkins' studentswho were once hesitant to have their voices heard in the classroom became more confident in taking risks, both in their creativity and in their ability to express themselves in a healthy manner. "It was about givingstudents something new, something that helped them grow in confidence and skills," Atkins said.

"As a teacher, seeing that transformation in my students was incredible," she reflected. "Painting Pandas gave them the opportunities they didn't have before, and it showed them that they were capable of more than they realized."