Kentucky Teacher

For the third consecutive summer KDE is partnering with The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts to offer Next Generation Academies for the Integration of Arts and World Languages.

June 17-21 Integrating the Arts and World Languages
Languages: Spanish and Japanese
Location: Jesse Stewart Elementary School, Madisonville

June 24-28 Integrating the Arts and World Languages
Languages: Spanish and French
Location: Danville High School, Danville

Preference will be given to teacher teams applying from the same school comprised of an arts teacher and a world language teacher. Read the full story

SWAT team member Judy Sizemore talks with 2nd-grade teachers during a meeting at Southside Elementary School (Pike County).
Photo provided by Southside Elementary School

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Southside Elementary School (Pike County) was already on track to meeting proficiency standards on the Arts and Humanities Program Review this year before teaching artist Judy Sizemore arrived.

Sizemore, a consultant with the Kentucky Arts Council and KET, was very impressed with how the school had developed monthly arts themes that would be integrated into different subject areas. A 5th-grade teacher, Amy Carter, had even developed PowerPoint presentations for each of the themes that focused on terms, elements, and purposes of the arts.

But what really impressed Sizemore was that the school wanted to be more than just proficient on the Arts and Humanities Program Review.

That’s why Principal Jill Maynard has applied for numerous grants through the Kentucky Arts Council – including a new one called Specialists with Arts Tactics (SWAT) that brought Sizemore to the school.

“We’ve always taught art, but not to the depth that is required by the Program Review. Our kids have opportunities for art, it’s just not to the degree that they’re going to get it now,” Maynard said. “We want to do everything we can to provide our children with the best education possible, and according to the Kentucky Department of Education, these are the specific steps that you have to do to be distinguished, and we’re going to do that.” Read the full story

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), a partnership of organizations and states leading the revision of the 1994 National Standards for Arts Education, has released a narrative framework that details the rationale, goals, and strategy of the new National Standards for Arts Education.

The National Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Arts Learningis available online. Five arts discipline teams are currently writing the standards based on the framework. NCCAS’s current timeline calls for the first public look at the new standards in June 2013.

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Mike Bell, director of the virtual arts program, directs students in the virtual choir on the opening day of the 2012-13 school year for the Floyd County school district.
Photo by Pam Caudill/Floyd County school district

A few years ago, Floyd County school district Superintendent Henry Webb attended a conference where he viewed Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir video and watched as the Grammy winner simultaneously directed 185 singers from 12 different countries.

“I was moved by what the composer was able to accomplish and thought of the talented kids in our district who could benefit from a performance platform such as this,” Webb said.

Luckily for Webb, teacher Mike Bell already was working in his district and was enthusiastic about bringing the concept to Floyd County

In its first year, more than 200 students in grades 4-12 joined the program and participated in a virtual choir performance of The Star Spangled Banner and My Old Kentucky Home.

This year, the virtual choir will be performing an arrangement of Wade in the Water, created by Betsy Layne High School band director Mike Cooley. Read the full story

Nominations are being accepted for the Governor’s Awards in the Arts, which recognize individuals and organizations who have made extraordinary and significant contributions to the arts in Kentucky. The Kentucky Arts Council coordinates the nomination process for these awards.

Eligibility is specific to each of the nine award categories: Milner, Artist, Business, Community Arts, Education, Folk Heritage, Government, Media and National. Depending on the category, eligible nominees must be residents of Kentucky, organizations located in Kentucky or have close ties to Kentucky.

Past recipients and posthumous nominees are not eligible.

The nomination deadline is Nov. 1.

See program guidelines for more information. Click here for a nomination form. For more information, contact Daniel J. Strauss toll-free at (888) 833-2787 or (502) 564-8110, ext. 474.

A new Kentucky Arts Council program is available for schools and school districts that would like assistance with improving arts education programs, policies and curriculum.
The Specialists With Arts Tactics (SWAT) Team program provides short-term technical assistance consultancies to schools and districts in the state. Consultants are available to facilitate policy writing, including an arts plan in the school or district improvement plans, arts curriculum alignment, developing performance assessments and integrating the arts across the curriculum. Consultancy fees are paid by the arts council. In some instances, schools may be required to pay nominal costs associated with the consultancy.
“Schools that want to see results from their arts programs and assessments should consider applying for a SWAT Team consultancy,” said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. “Our trained consultants can answer questions school or district representatives might have in relation to improving and integrating arts education for their students.”
Any Kentucky public or private school or district that supports grades P-12 may apply for a SWAT Team consultancy. Applications are accepted year-round and should be submitted at least 30 days in advance of the desired date of the consultancy. Applicants can be awarded two consultancies per year.
In addition to the SWAT Team program, the arts council has made updates to another of its education programs, including a name change. The grant program known formerly as the Teacher Initiated Program is now the Teaching Art Together grant.
The Teaching Art Together grant allows teachers to collaborate with practicing, professional artists on the design and implementation of innovative five- to 20-day residencies. Residencies provide teachers with the tools to continue to incorporate the arts into the curriculum after the residency is completed.
Guidelines for the SWAT Team and Teaching Art Together programs can be found online at the program web pages. For more information about applying for any of the arts council’s education programs, contact Rachel Allen, arts education director, at (502) 564-8110, ext. 486, or via e-mail.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The National PTA is now accepting applications for the 2012-13 Mary Lou Anderson Reflections Arts Enhancement Grants.

The grants will award local PTAs up to $1,000 in matching funds to student-centered programs geared toward sustaining and enhancing creativity and artistic values for large groups of at-risk students. With research showing students receive the most benefit from programs that include consistent involvement in the arts, the National PTA proudly supports these invaluable opportunities.

Local PTAs are invited to apply for funding to establish or enhance arts programs in one or more arts areas: visual arts, photography, music, dance, literature and theater. Priority is being placed on projects that represent research-based best practices in arts education. Specifically, PTA will fund arts programs that:

• are of a sustained nature (rather than a one-time event)
• reach large numbers of at-risk students Read the full story

NASA blends science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) using education resources related to current and future missions in this conference, scheduled for June 20-21 in Richmond and June 26-27 in Corbin.

The summer workshops provided by NASA Aerospace Education Services Project and the Southeast/Southcentral Educational Cooperative (SESC) will explore engineering design challenges, problem-based learning activities, distance-learning modules, inquiry-based lessons, literacy across the curriculum and hands-on projects while targeting the Next Generation Standards.

Register online at https://coetech.eku.edu/registration/Online_PD_RegForm.php or call Sarah Evans at (859) 622-8488 for more information.

More than 6,000 students, educators and parents gathered at the seventh annual Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) State Championship on March 22 at Rupp Arena and the Lexington Convention Center.

P-12 students from across the state showed what they know and can do with technology in arts, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and many marketable career skills by participating in 42 different STLP learning categories.

The event empowers students to use technology to problem-solve, create content, learn and achieve. Thousands of adults supported this 21st-century learning event as chaperones, mentors and judges. Read stories written by cyber-reporting students about the exciting event at http://jcps.jefferson.kyschools.us/cybergazette/.

Out of nearly 500 projects, three schools were named Best in State in Project Showcase. The three schools will attend the International Society of Technology Education (ISTE) Conference in San Diego, Calif., June 23-26, representing STLP as Student Showcases.

Best in State

• Oakview Elementary (Ashland Independent)
• James E Bazzell Middle (Allen County)
• Woodford County High Read the full story

The Kentucky Arts Council is offering a new grant to provide transportation funding to help students get from schools to arts events and performances.

The TranspARTation grant is open to any school, public or private, that needs transportation funding to attend activities at the following approved venues:

• Actors Theatre, Louisville
• Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, Covington
• Explorium of Lexington 
• Kentucky Opera, Louisville
• Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, northern Kentucky
• KentuckyLexington Art League
• Lexington Children’s Theatre
• Living Arts and Science Center, Lexington Read the full story