me arts ed

Gifted Education Press Quarterly available

The summer online edition of GEPQ can be accessed by clicking here and contains the following articles:

Editorial Comments by Maurice Fisher

Gifted Education in China: A Transition toward Student-Centered Instruction by Stephen T. Schroth, Jason A. Helfer, Diana L. Beck, Katherine M. Latshaw, Zachary A. Bahr, Education Studies Department, Knox College, Galesburg, IL

Parent/School Communication with Gifted Education by Kai Brunkalla, Walsh University, North Canton, OH

N. Scott Momaday: Native American Creative Writer, Artist and Activist by Dorothy Clare Massalski, University of Arizona, Tuscon, AZ

Little Dorrit (1857): A Novel for Gifted Students by Michael E. Waters, Center for the Study of the Humanities in the Schools

The journal contains other valuable information that you might want to look at when you have a few minutes. For those of you working with G/T plans it could help with your thinking.

Remember there are resources for G/T at the arts education webpages at the Maine Department of Education. You can access them by clicking here and many links on G/T at the arts ed portaportal which you can access by clicking here and typing in meartsed for the guest name. If you have other G/T resources, ideas, and/or suggestions, PLEASE share them here by clicking on comments. Thanks!

Traveling to fascinating places and being creative!

Nine Maine Arts Educators have been selected by Maine Alliance for Arts Education and the Maine Community Foundation to pursue studies in theater, music, and a variety of visual arts around the world.

The teachers, their schools, and their projects:

• Rebecca Bean, Cape Elizabeth Middle School, to study music, dance, and culture in Ghana, West Africa
• Joanne Maloney, Wentworth Intermediate School, Scarborough, to study mosaic tile production at the Mosaic Arts School in Ravenna, Italy
• Kristin McKinlay, Edmunds Consolidated School, to study digital printing and hand embellishment at the Split Rock Arts Program in Minnesotay
• Linda Phillips, Maranacook Community Middle School, Readfield, to travel to Ardeche, France, to attend the TASIS Art Teacher Workshop
• Caitlin Ramsey, Massabesic Middle School, East Waterboro, to participate in the Conductors Institute at the New England Conservatory of Music
• Pam and Kevin Rhein, Messalonskee Middle and High Schools, Oakland, James Bean School, Sidney, Belgrade Central School, to participate in the Choral Arts International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece
• Shira Singer, Islesford Elementary School, Swan’s Island School, to study fabric design and surface embellishment at Quilting by the Lake in Syracuse, New York
• Debra Susi, Warsaw Middle School, Maine Central Institute, Pittsfield, to study theater production at the La MaMa International Symposium in Spoleto, Italy

I look forward to hearing of their adventures. Please join me in CONGRATULATING our colleagues!

Student artwork will be displayed in Washington

Two Maine students are the winners of the 2009 Congressional Arts Competition. Michele Jaffarian, a senior at Rangeley Lakes Regional School, in the 2nd Congressional District. Her art teacher is Sonja Johnson. Suki Nesvig of Wayneflete School in Portland was selected in the 1st Congressional District.

A reception was held at the Blaine House on May 16, 2009 for both students, their families and their art teachers. Both artworks were on display, Suki’s a woodblock print and Michele’s colored pencil piece.

Their artwork will be put on display in the Cannon Tunnel of the Capitol in Washington D.C. for the next year. Both students will be flown to the nation’s capital for the opening of the show.

CONGRATULATIONS to Michele and Suki!

Art exhibit on a school bus #8.

“Riding the Bus” is a black and white photography exhibit by Maranacook Middle School art teacher Linda Nichols Phillips. The exhibit features portraits of Maranacook students riding Gaeton English’s bus #8 and is the focus of Phillips’s thesis project for her master’s degree in education from Lesley University. Bus#8 will serve as the “gallery” for the opening of the exhibit and will be parked at the footbridge at Mill Pond Stream, Memorial Park on Main Street, in Wayne. May 25, 2009, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM. (Rain location: Ladd Center on Gott Road).

CONGRATULATIONS to Linda and others who are receiving a master’s degree! Please let us know if you are completing a degree this year!

What a night for the Arts!

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Windham art exhibit and musical performance at Windham High School. The facility is a beautiful space to display artwork. The time, effort and expertise of K-12 art teachers Angelika Blanchard, Kim Chasse, Jeff Bell, Colleen Kearney-Graffam, Christina Warren, Rebecca Wheeler, Deb Livengood, and Katherine Thompson was evident. The beautifully displayed artwork showcased the outstanding work of all students.

The musical performance of the 3rd grade chorus under the direction of Nancy Cosh Cobb was top notch. Each student was focused and confident and clearly were enjoying the opportunity to perform for their families, staff and community.

The Windham Hill Chamber singers joined the 3rd graders for fun songs including one of my favorites “One bottle pop, two bottle pop, three bottle pop, four…” Lots of enthusiasm and energy, great collaboration and modeling!

The performance concluded with selections from the high school group under the direction of Dr. Rick Nickerson. The energy multiplied as they energized the room. I am sure the young people in the audience found their rendition of the combining of Sesame Street and Stomp to be the most outstanding. Smiles, laughter and pure joy filled the stage.

Congratulations to all the Windham arts teachers for an outstanding performance and exhibit! I am certain other blog readers have examples of combining the arts, grade levels and community opportunities that you could share with all of us here. It would be great if you’d take a few minutes and comment and share your ideas.

Camden Middle School Student Googleing it Up!

Congratulations to 7th grade Camden-Rockport Middle School 7th grader Deldar Golchehreh who is a regional winner in the Doodle 4 Google contest. Her art teacher Kristen Andersen emailed with the news that Deldar he is 1 of 40 remaining contestants out of 28,000 entries! Six entries were sent from CRMS to compete at the state level. Deldar was 1 of 2 people in her age group to win at the state level and went on to become the only winner in her age group (grades 7-9) in her region (region1: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT).

The 40 regional winners are on display at http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html Yes, you can vote for Deldar’s idea at that link. If Deldar receives the most votes she will become one of 4 national finalists. The national winnner’s doodle will ‘go live’ on the Google homepage for 24 hours.

VOTE FOR DELDAR’s ARTWORK and Congrats to art teacher Kristen Andersen!

Travels to 10 states!

Secretary Duncan is on a mission visiting at least 15 states to hear what teachers, students and parents have to say face to face about No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The tour, “Listening and Learning: A Conversation About Education Reform” is so the Secretary can have a “national dialogue about how to best deliver a complete and competitive education to all children – from cradle through career.”

“Duncan gives the (NCLB) law credit for shining a spotlight on kids who need the most help. Yet Duncan has many criticisms of No Child Left Behind, and he has plenty of company. Opponents insist the law’s annual reading and math tests have squeezed subjects like music and art out of the classroom and that schools were promised billions of dollars they never received.”

If Secretary Duncan decided to visit your school and sit down with you in your teachers lounge, during your preparation period what would you say to him about NCLB and school reform? Have you formulated your ideas on what school should look like to prepare our young people for the 21st century? What are you doing today that may be you are doing differently than when you started your teaching career. What are those differences?

And on a lighter note, what snack might be in the lounge that you would offer the Secretary?

The Secretary’s meetings are being taped and video summaries will be published on the U.S. Department of Education’s website that you can go to by clicking here.

Blanket of Bluets

A blanket of wildflower Bluets and a colorful sunset!

I can’t think of a better end to a busy day than the one I had last night. I went for a walk with a friend on a woods path to a beautiful field filled with Bluets. Bluets are the tiniest flower, some were white and some pale blue. It looked like a blanket had been spread out on the green grass of Spring. As we continued on around the next bend our eyes feasted on sky ablaze with color on the almost still pond. We paused to absorb the colors, stillness and quiet. And our conversation was filled with arts education in Maine!

Brilliant colors!

The Last Light of Day

The photos don’t capture it as our eyes saw it but the photos will help me remember. What have you been discussing with friends and colleagues about arts education recently?

Community Art Project (CAP)

Under the leadership of Waterville High School art teacher Suzanne Goulet students identify a need for either art or design somewhere in the community. Students work with a sponsor (seeking permission, getting feedback, building a client relationship, secure funds). These projects can be collaborative in nature.

Adam Tudella ’08, worked with Principal Reiter, Superintendent Haley, Berrys Stationary and Elm City photo to make this “school beautification project” work. Adam worked through what used to be known as a PAL grant and even wrote out and submitted a purchase order (PO).

As a result, there are now fourteen matted and framed images of contemporary student life that have also been engineered to be securely hang all around the campus. The locations are permanent, but the display is designed to be “refreshed” with more contemporary images. Congratulations to Adam for a JOB WELL DONE!

What kind of community or service learning projects are you doing or have you done that you could share with others to learn from your work? Please post them here under comments.