 |
|
|
AIE Notable ProgramsIn this section, you will find a preview of some of the finest Arts in Education Programs in North Carolina and the nation. Scroll down this page for a summary of each program and then, for the "rest of the story," click on the program name for a complete profile of the program. North Carolina Programs: A+ Schools Program at UNC Greensboro Schools in the A+ Schools Network believe the real question is not “How smart are you?” but “How are you smart?” The A+ Schools use Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences to reach every child, from those whose strengths are verbal or mathematical to those who are more comfortable musically, kinesthetically or intrapersonally. Students learn in ways that are easy for them while strengthening skills in areas they find challenging. A+ Schools also believe in hands-on, experiential learning. Lecturing is kept to a minimum. These kids learn by exploring, experimenting and discovering. In an A+ School, the arts are integrated throughout the curriculum. Sometimes students will discover the music curriculum in the music room, where most people might expect to find it. But they’re just as likely to discover African drumming in their social studies classes, basketweaving in math or dance in science. Every summer, faculties of A+ Schools gather at Summer Institutes to learn from A+ Fellows (professional teaching artists, university professors, and exemplary teachers selected from A+ Schools). During that time, teachers and administrators begin building interdisciplinary thematic units based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, working together to make learning exciting and substantial for their students. An entire school may collaborate to build a rainforest in the media center, which then becomes the heart of an interdisciplinary unit for learning about everything from weather to indigenous cultures to the graphing of bird migration. Asheville Art Museum Erika Sanger, the Curator of Education at the Asheville Art Museum, had been looking at the work of Josef Albers in the Museum's collection and thinking about connections between his artwork and the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Mathematics. With less funding available for arts programming for its own sake, Erika had already begun to look for new approaches to education at the Museum. Why not offer young people an understanding of art that would also help them understand math? "When you begin to see numbers as puzzles and patterns instead of just numbers, they make sense," she realized. In the 23 counties of Western North Carolina, you'll find only one visual art museum that serves them all: the Asheville Art Museum. The mission of the Museum is: "to collect, preserve and interpret American art beginning in the 20th century," particularly "the rich cultural heritage of Western North Carolina." For over half a century, the Museum has "served the communities with quality exhibitions, community outreach projects that address pertinent local issues and innovative programs that showcase excellence in the visual arts and stimulate the creative spirit." Okay, so most people don't think of placing "the creative spirit" and "math" in the same sentence, but the Curator of Education did, and clearly renowned artists Josef Albers, Anni Albers and Beatrice Riese did, too. They saw the beauty in geometry, the elegance of angles, the purity of polyhedrons. What's more, the works of these artists provided a natural lead-in to understanding the many elements of geometry and measurement. Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company Flamenco is a dance of tradition, which is exactly why the Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company and Mineral Springs Middle A+ Academy decided to make long-term plans when they teamed up. In an unusual residency project, the grant applicant was not the school, but the artist. Carlota Santana saw a need for some tradition building, some sense of continuity and a deeper understanding of Spanish/Hispanic culture in Winston-Salem. So she joined forces with Mineral Springs Middle, a public A+ school that transforms the lives of economically challenged students through arts integration and Multiple Intelligences. Because of its students' needs for more long-term cultural experiences and its commitment to the arts as a way to communicate the curriculum, Mineral Springs was the perfect choice. Charlotte Symphony Orchestra At Winterfield Elementary School, first graders are "shiver-shiver-shivering" to the music of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." And they're learning language arts, music and movement as they do it. Since the 2000-2001 school year, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra has held eight-session classical music residencies at Winterfield Elementary each year for first and second graders. Winterfield is so much a neighborhood school that when the Family Choice Plan was implemented in 2003 in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, most of the Winterfield families chose to remain at the school. The school has historically been one of the most ethnically diverse schools in the system, with a lovely mix of Vietnamese, Hispanic, African American and European American children. Many of the school families are recent immigrants. With a great number of students learning English in ESL classes, how perfect it is that they are also learning from professional Charlotte Symphony musicians, who not only help them learn English through the universal language of music, they also bring an international perspective to classical music. They honor the traditions of their students by sharing the ways that the different cultures of these students have influenced classical music. DREAMS Center for Arts Education "I believe if you present people with life-giving alternatives, they'll take them," says Tracy Wilkes, founder of DREAMS of Wilmington, an afterschool arts program for at-risk kids. She adds, "it's criminal for kids not to have the chance to explore and nurture their creative abilities. Art saves lives." Given that choice, Tracy decided to create an arts program that would help kids become whole, creative people. In November of 1997, DREAMS started with four classes—music, dance, painting and drama— and a total of 40 kids. By May 2003, the program had grown to ten locations (including 21st Century Community Learning Center Programs in two counties), 22 teaching artists, 55 classes, and a grand total of over 300 kids per week. JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) At the start of the new millennium, music had all but disappeared from the halls of Alleghany County's elementary schools. Due to funding cuts and hard choices, none of the kindergartners through eighth graders in Alleghany County, except the band members, had the chance to learn anything about music. Sure there was music in the county itself, but it too was dying out: fiddles and banjos were shoved under beds to consort with dust mice. Guidance counselor and musician Helen White was also aware of the growing state and national recognition that we need quality afterschool programs for our children. (Ask anyone at the North Carolina Center for After School Programs, located in Raleigh and established by the Public School Forum of North Carolina. They'll certainly agree.) So Helen found the perfect solution: matching local old-time musicians with elementary school kids to pass on the traditions and keep the music alive. And thus the JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) afterschool program was born. North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center: Education Institute What a difference a preposition makes! When GAINS talks about "education in the arts," it means something different from "education through the arts." But never let it be said that the folks who created GAINS (Gaston Arts Integration Nourishes Success) think small. Kindergartners through fifth graders at Ida Rankin Elementary School are meeting the North Carolina Standard Course of Study requirements both "in" and "through" the arts. In the arts, Ida Rankin students and teachers have learned about Creole music and culture from a renowned zydeco musician, not to mention how to audition for a school musical (or a Broadway show!) from the casts of Broadway shows. Through the arts, they've discovered Native American culture with a Native American artist whose lessons and artifacts bring history alive. They've used drama and movement to reinforce language arts skills through Anansi the Spider; and storytellers have brought February alive through stories of heroic African Americans. North Carolina Dance Theatre Dance is all about the combination of beauty and efficiency: no movement is wasted. So it's no surprise that a group of dance educators has choreographed a collaboration that is beautiful, efficient and unique in this country. The North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT), the Dance and Theatre Department of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-C) and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System have united to create a curriculum for teaching creative problem solving in dance. This program is based on national and state standards for dance. It's a curriculum that is as grounded as a plié, as powerful and astonishing as a tour jeté. SeeSaw Studio Where do kids go when they're too old for the playground and too young for the workplace? They graduate from the seesaw to SeeSaw, a design studio where adolescents are artists and art is a business. Modeled on YA/YA (Young Aspirations /Young Artists), a nationally known afterschool program in New Orleans, SeeSaw gives kids the opportunity to work their way up the Ladder of Success, from entry level to apprentice to senior designer. Executive Director Amy Milne and Artistic Director Mara Matthews would rather be seen by these young artists as colleagues than as bosses and teachers. SeeSaw artists—youth between the ages of 13 and 21— work independently and cooperatively to create the kinds of art that create their own market. Some projects get sold after they're made: pillows, handmade journals, hats and handbags. Other projects involve finding a client to commission a specially designed piece that will have lasting impact: art that does good in the world. |
