SAN ANTONIO \u2013 At Cooper Academy, art is more than a creative outlet. It\u2019s helping students find their voices, overcome personal challenges and honor lives lost in one of Texas\u2019 deadliest natural disasters.<\/p>\n
This year, students at San Antonio Independent School District specialized campus downtown are creating a special D\u00eda de los Muertos ofrenda honoring the 119 Kerr County victims of the July 2025 floods.<\/p>\n
Instead of a traditional altar, students are painting rocks with the victims\u2019 names and ages, arranging them to resemble the flowing Guadalupe River. The display also incorporates colors and imagery representing Camp Mystic and the lives lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kids decided they wanted to add the ages too because that was important to see,\u201d art teacher Jolene Navarro said.<\/p>\n
For senior Alexandria Barron-Rico, the project is deeply emotional.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially writing the names and then the age, it really puts into perspective that nothing is promised,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really sad to see they had a whole life ahead of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the project represents something bigger at Cooper Academy, where students who struggled at traditional campuses are finding a fresh start.<\/p>\n
With fewer than 400 students and art classes averaging 10 to 15 students, the school offers a more personal learning environment.<\/p>\n
Navarro said art has helped students who once struggled to connect with others discover confidence and a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see kids that weren\u2019t schooled, they didn\u2019t feel like they belonged, and now they feel like they belong. And it\u2019s through art that they\u2019re able to find that connection,\u201d Navarro said.<\/p>\n
Barron-Rico, who arrived at Cooper Academy in February, said the difference has been life-changing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to a couple, I\u2019ve been around four. And I never felt so cared for,\u201d she said. \u201cThey care. They want us to graduate. And they want us move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Painting has also become a source of peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt quiets my mind,\u201d she said. \u201cAll I want to do is paint. And it really just brings peace to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barron-Rico plans to graduate in December 2026 and pursue a college degree in business administration.<\/p>\n
Her outlook on the future is filled with confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m gonna be successful. I will be successful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 At Cooper Academy, art is more than a creative outlet. It\u2019s helping students find their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[160309,3933,163,4034,6527,4042,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-473276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-cooper-academy","tag-dia-de-los-muertos","tag-education","tag-hill-country-floods","tag-ksatkids","tag-saisd","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}