A Cholla High School student puts on a virtual reality headset on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024.
Students at Cholla High School did not have to go far from the classroom to experience Native artistry. On Thursday, they immersed themselves in the homes of Navajo artists through virtual reality (VR) sets provided by Act One.
The nonprofit offers free arts and culture field trips to Title I schools, which receive federal funding to support students from low-income backgrounds. By providing these experiences, Act One aims to close educational achievement gaps.
For three classes at Cholla, Act One facilitated immersive virtual reality experiences, each lasting about an hour.
“It was like a field trip in the classroom,” Alexander Contreras, a junior at Cholla High School, said. “The moment it was put on my head, it felt like I was transported into a new place.”
The VR experience featured three chapters, each highlighting a different artist or art form, united by a central theme. This season, Act One aimed to amplify the work of Indigenous artists, such as a sheep-herding family reconnecting with their weaving traditions.
Sophie Armstrong, a VR specialist, says that students tend to see their own cultures reflected in the lessons.
“(It) starts a conversation about who they are and that they don't get to see that in modern culture or technology because there's not always a space for them.”
VIEW LARGER Students sit inside a classroom at Cholla High School in Tucson, AZ on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. For World History teacher Brenda Boehler, this was her second time hosting Act One in her classroom. She said that field trips are often out of reach due to limited funding. Without Act One’s support, she would have to fundraise to make experiences like this possible.
“Paying for the field trip is the greatest hurdle,” Boehler said. “Act One takes most of that pressure off.”
Having access to cutting-edge technology was something Boehler didn’t anticipate when she began her teaching career. She sees it as a glimpse into the future.
“We’ve seen news stories about problems with technology and cell phones,” she said. “This shows us the flip side—the positive side—of how technology can enhance the educational experience.”
As part of her lesson plan, Boehler asked students to reflect on the phrase “art is a mirror of society.”
“We talk so much about groups of people and chunks of time that we forget it’s really about the human experience,” Boehler said. “When we look at art, it reminds us that we’re talking about human beings—people with feelings, hopes, dreams, and fears. We can see all that in their art.”
For Contreras, the experience was a reminder of how art has always been used to communicate emotion.
“Most of the land that we’re on right now was Indigenous at one time,” he said. “It makes me think about my family, what they’ve gone through, and how much they’ve sacrificed for me as a person.”
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