I will be forever grateful to my older brother for programming a version of “Pong” on my TI-83 calculator. Without that moving pixel bouncing from one tiny dash to another, I doubt I would have made it through my high school algebra class.

Like many students, I thought math was both exhausting and dull. But by far, my biggest problem with algebra is that every student gets the same answer.

I preferred creative pursuits, writing stories and designing yearbook pages.

Artistic expression is often times the key to success. Unfortunately, when districts face budget cuts, arts education is the first thing to go.

I recently spoke to Jeff Janiszewski, school board president of Schenectady schools in New York, a district committed to arts education. Janiszewski believes his students’ math and reading scores would decline if Schenectady cut arts education.

“It would be damaging to the education of a lot of students,” Janiszewski said.

The idea that arts education and academic achievement are closely related is gaining support. Some districts have instated arts outreach programs to help develop students’ literacy and language skills.

One program in North Carolina is teaching students to be better communicators by letting them tell stories through paintings. A similar program in California has students narrate a story through photos they took with digital cameras at a local park.

These programs integrate a variety of skills with artistic expression. They not only foster learning, but get students excited about their education, a rarity in today’s accountability-conscious schools.

I didn’t get up in the morning and hop on the bus every day to study the Pythagorean theorem. But my desire to excel in my creative exploits made me a better, and more motivated student.

Stacey Hollenbeck, spring intern