Amid the turmoil of the past school year, Jennifer Sabatelli, art teacher at Nims Middle School, chose to focus on the moments of magic.

There were many, and they were often conjured by total strangers through random acts of kindness. Sabatelli was hired at the beginning of the year to build a new visual art program from scratch, a daunting task in the best of times. The community came to her aid.

“Over the summer we got a lot of love. So many people wanted to help,” she said. Between the 'Stock Our Schools: Leon County’ Facebook Group which fulfilled teacher wish lists through community donations, and the efforts of individual advocates who organized supplies drives specifically for the program, Sabatelli was able to outfit her classroom and stock the shelves. 

“It was a saving grace. People were bringing us supplies, they were dropping it off to me, dropping it off at the school. We would not have been able to fund an entire art program by ourselves. With the help of the community, we were able to start in what was a horrible year for us. I’m just so grateful.” 

Sabatelli also took full advantage of the Art Education Grant offered by the Council on Culture & Arts (COCA), made possible this year through philanthropic support from the Duke Energy Foundation’s Powerful Communities program. She devised an art project to perpetuate the spirit of community giving, kindness and empathy.

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