You’ve heard of March Madness, but what about M(art)ch Madness? Teacher and FCHS Art department chair Michelle Coleman is putting an artsy twist on the usually sports-centered month by hosting a “M(art)ch Madness” art competition, complete with brackets. She created this competition in hopes of raising recognition for her AP Art History class (commonly referred to as APAH).

“My goal is to generate intrigue about APAH. I was hoping it would increase sign ups for next year and give our content a little recognition,” said Coleman.

Since the beginning of the semester, Coleman has had a plan to enhance her teaching. On the first day of the semester, shen divided her students into semester-long teams. Students can earn points for their teams by accomplishing tasks such as winning review games like Kahoot or Bingo. The students can also earn points by participating in dress up days, sharing information about key artworks with their designated groups, or visiting art museums. For example, one of Coleman’s students shared with her team that she will be visiting the Louvre over spring break. Experiences such as these gain points for the students.

“The points are definitely an interesting part of class,” said senior Kessler Potter, one of Coleman’s students. “The system has definitely encouraged me to pay more attention to aspects of art that I never thought about. It’s also opened my eyes to how many elements of art are evident in everyday life.”

The points allow the students to get additional credit on their in-class quizzes. Whichever team has the highest points before the quiz will receive extra credit. These points help the students work hard and encourage them to compete for more points everyday. Coleman is now using her classroom techniques to follow M(art)ch Madness, by allowing her students to earn points for every artwork they choose that moves forward in the competition.

“It’s similar to filling out a bracket, except we can change our choices every week depending on the available options,” said Potter.

Coleman is using brackets, similar to the basketball March Madness, to pick the final winner. The board with the bracket, as well as images and names of the competing artworks, can be found outside of her classroom on the 1600 hallway. Each week will have a new bracket available for students and staff to vote on. The voting, which ends March 28, can be done by completing a Google Form which can be accessed through this link, a QR code on the flyers around school, on the board in the 1600 hallway, or by going to the FCHS Art department’s Instagram (@fchsart). Votes are solely based choosing your favorite artwork for each match.

The winners of M(art)ch Madness will be announced on March 29. The students that picked the winning artwork will be awarded extra points for their in-class team.

Coleman hopes that M(art)ch Madness will increase the visibility of APAH across the school and encourage more students to sign up for the class.

“It’s a new class and I enjoy teaching it. I want to make sure it is a guaranteed class in the schedule every school year. If my enrollments increase, it will benefit the course,” said Coleman.

Students interested in signing up for AP Art History should contact their counselor. For more information about the class, reach out to Coleman at [email protected].