In September of last year, we began a pilot program at an alternative private high school, where 90% of the students previously failed out of public school, were from single parent households, had experienced sexual and/or physical abuse, and staying in school was a daily struggle.

The Principal originally embraced the concept of Chill & Spill in the classroom because, as she said, “Having our kids learn shading and perspective is nice and all, but it’s not a skill that is going to benefit 99% them in the long run.”

Part-way through, she commented that “The students in the Chill & Spill class see it as a way to communicate. The work is rich. I’m grateful that the students have a space for creativity as well as reflection and expression of the multitude of issues they carry with them.”

The class ended last week and I got to visit them while they finished up their projects. They had the chance to experiment with all sorts of media, and each class was based on a page out of Chill & Spill.

When I asked two of the students how they would rate the class (based on a scale of 1 to 10), they both replied, in unison, “10.” I asked why and they said, “Because this is the only class we have where we get to talk about ourselves and express what’s going on inside of us.” Another student commented that “Chill & Spill should be world-wide and expanded at every school or at least private school!”