me arts ed

Take a ride to Schoodic!

Schoodic Peninsula is one of my most favorite places in the world! It doesn’t matter what season I travel to Schoodic, it is a beautiful treasure. If you’ve never been, now is a GREAT time to visit. Even during the height of tourist season, I’ve never seen many people at Schoodic. I know this is probably a mistake, letting everyone know how wonderful it it s there. What can I say… I like to share….

So, why is now such a great time to visit? The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium is taking place. I wrote a blog post on August 2nd featuring Miles Chapin, the student from College of the Atlantic, who is doing an internship with sculptor Jesse Salisbury and working on the symposium. The juried process selected the following sculptors to participate this summer:

• Ahmed Karaly: Egypt
• Attila Rath Geber: France
• Jhon Gogaberishville: Republic of Georgia
• Mark Herrington: United States
• Roland Mayer: Germany
• Songul Telek: Turkey

You can view a selection of their work at the Schoodic site.

I visited last week and thoroughly enjoyed watching them creating their impressive work. During the time we were there we could begin to see the artists personalities implied in the stone. We were lucky to chat with Mark Herrington from Franklin. His sculpture, when complete, will be installed in his hometown. Mark is available for residency’s so please contact him if you are interested. You can view some of his work by clicking here.

The symposium is a biennial event and will take place over a ten year period. This is the second in the series.  The purpose is to bring together artists, visitors, and communities to create a Public Sculpture Collection in eastern Maine. This is a fun and educational way to see how large scale sculpture is made from granite. The artists will work for a total of 6 weeks until September 12th and their sculptures will be installed in towns close by.  About 50 sculptures will be created by the year 2015.

There is no cost to visit the symposium and there is a small visitors tent where you can learn more. Volunteers are available to answer your questions.

On August 23rd at 7PM at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor a documentary created by Richard Kane on the symposium will be shown.

I look forward to returning in September to see their progress and to enjoy another lunch on the rocks which is in walking distance of where the artists are working. I hope you will have a chance to make the drive to this beautiful part of the state. And please post your comments about the symposium and beautiful Schoodic Peninsula!

Article from the San Francisco Chronicle 7/31/09

Many decisions are being made in California due to the budget issues. This article by Ted Barone, principal of Albany High School, located in Albany, CA, addresses why music education must be funded.

Tides Institute and Museum of Art, Eastport, ME

Jude Valentine, Project Director, from the Tides Institute and Museum of Art recently emailed and let me know of an opportunity that might be of particular interest to educators as it involves a cross-disciplinary approach to the environment involving the arts, history, science, geography, literatures and any number of other subjects.

Fernhurst Parish map

Tides Institute is hosting Common Ground co-founder, Sue Clifford in Eastport, August 9-14, 2009 to present Parish Maps – England to America. You might be wondering so what is a Parish Map? It is a visual depiction of what a community values most about itself – its history, character, traditions, institutions, culture, daily life, natural resources, work & play – allthe things that make a particular city, town or village unique.

Who decides what goes on a Parish Map of a town? The people who live there and want to participate. I can imagine an interdisplinary unit designed by students and teachers that creates a Parish Map of a school community.

Sue Clifford will be presenting the work of the Parish Maps Project and will take part in a panel discussion with Lucy Lippard, art critic and activist, Hamish Fulton, internationally known British walking artist and Ron Shuebrook, Canadian artist and arts educator on Public Art and Sense of Space.

The public is invited to attend free community workshops scheduled for:

• Lubec: August 9, 2:00PM, Lubec Memorial Library, 55 Water St.
• Calais: August 10, 7:00PM, The Holmestead, 527 Main St.
• St. Andrews, New Brunswick, August 11, 7:00PM, Kingsbrae Gardens, 220 King St.
• Pembroke: August 12, 1:00PM, Pembroke Elementary Sch, Rte. 1
• Dennysville, August 14, 7:00PM, Lincoln Memorial Library, King St

For more information and to learn more please visit the Tides Institute website. Funding has been provided by the Maine Arts Commission.

YOU’RE INVITED! October 8, 9, 2009-Point Lookout, Northport, ME

Thursday night, preconference celebration… Friday, conference: 7:30-4:30 Cost: $75.00. Limited number of $25.00 scholarships available.

For more details please click here. Registration starts September 1, 2009. Don’t miss this opportunity to make CONNECTIONS!

The Arts Connect! Conference will provide high-level professional development for educators in K-12, higher-ed, and arts organizations, as well as artist-educators. The conference will enable these educators to support school improvement initiatives and to make meaningful connections to strengthen education in all of the arts for all Maine students.

The Arts Connect! Conference participants will:

• learn skills to improve teaching and learning in the arts;
• make connections among the arts disciplines: dance, music, theater, visual arts,and creative writing
• make new connections with other educators and reconnect with old friends;
• make connections between school and community, including arts organizations, artists, and other arts education supporters;
• learn about common issues facing educators in Maine.

Participants will be awarded 7 contact hours.

Music Educator, Andrea Peterson, 2007 National Teacher of the Year-Keynote speaker

Finalist for Maine Teacher of the Year!

Hall Elementary School in Portland is very proud of their music teacher Jayne Sawtelle. She is one of three finalists for the 2010 Maine Teacher of the Year! Thank you Jayne, not only for representing your school and community, but the community of arts educators in Maine! During the last several months Jayne has gone through the many steps of the Teacher of the Year process.

Facts about Jayne:

• Teaches K-5 classroom music
• Assists with elementary band
• Responsible for grades 6-8 jazz band
• Conducts the multi-age chorus that includes students, parents, grandparents and staff members
• Classes include students who speak over 20 different language
• Arranges music
• Plays the baritone saxophone with the Casco Bay Concert Band and the Edith Jones Project
• Plays in the community steel drum band
• Taking guitar lessons
• Believes it is so much more about the process and not the product

Jayne is a life-long learner and is very proud to be a teacher! Jayne musically enhances the rich multi-culturism of her school community. The other two finalists for Maine Teacher of the Year are Bill Thompson, a high school physics teacher from Guilford and Kevin Grover, a second grade teacher from Falmouth. The announcement of the 2010 Maine Teacher of the Year will take place at a surprise assembly at the teachers school in the fall.

YOU asked for it-YOU got it!

Since the Maine Learning Results have been revised in October 2007 there have been many comments about how much better they are since the 4 disciplines of the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) are separated for the first two standards. The document has been available with all five standards together for all 4 disciplines. Some educators have expressed how difficult it is to flip through and look only at their discipline.

Although, we know there are many connections between the disciplines, the document was created with Standards A: Discipline Literacy and Standard B: Creation, Performance, Expression separated because they are the two areas where the disciplines differ greatly. I am providing you with additional documents (.pdf and .rtf format) that are Standards A-E for each discipline so they are more user friendly for your individual discipline. You can find them on the Maine Department of Education Arts Education webpage. Please comment and let me know what you think.

Principal gives keynote

photo by Sarah Sutter

Founding principal Chris Lehman of the Science Leadership Academy, a progressive high school in Philadelphia, was the keynote speaker at the conference in Castine. Chris was honored by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development with the 2009 Young Educator Award and in 2006 was named by the National School Board Association as one of “20 to Watch” among American administrators.

These accolades were understandable when I heard Chris speak. His energy and commitment to every student receiving a gold standard education is very clear. Science Leadership Academy was opened in 2006 and was built on the notion that inquiry is the very first step in the process of learning. Chris is the author of the blog Practical Theory: A View from the Classroom.

Chris made several points and presented ideas that pushed on my thinking. Many of his points were outstanding and I found myself asking over and over: how do we change today’s system, how do we move the mountain, how do we shift thinking? Some of his points to think about:

• 

  Chris on the boat ride at Castine MLTI conference

• We should be preparing young people for “21st Century Citizenry, not a 21st Century Workforce”
• Our schools are filled with passionate, dedicated educators yet we still have so many problems; the system is broken
• Caring institutions teach kids, not subjects
• A traditional classroom has tests at the top of the pyramid, today’s classrooms need to have projects at the top of the pyramid. Get kids to show what they’ve learned
• Web 2.0 education promotes thinking about thinking, a must today
• Good data is the work kids do everyday, it is not the answers on a test
• Technology must be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary and invisible
• Young people need to acquire skills so they can research, collaborate, create, present and network (these skills can be acquired when technology is infused into the teaching and learning). If we are not doing this, we are doing kids a disservice

You can view Chris in action when you watch this 5 minute video of him at IgnitePhilly which is similar to Pecha Kucha Night. He had 5 minutes to present using 20 slides on the topic of school reform. Take 5 minutes and view it and contribute your comments.

Setting Sail-Technology Conference

For three days almost 150 educators were engaged in a great technology learning opportunity at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. The conference opened with supper followed by the keynote given by Chris Lehman, founding principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. Three-3 hour workshops took place which gave participants a block of time to learn, explore and create with new ideas. In between there was good food and great networking opportunities in a variety of settings. The sun even came out on Thursday which was a treat!

Sarah Sutter-photo taken by Jeff Beaudry w/Sarah's new camera

Many arts educators attended and a handful facilitated workshops. Thank you to the following arts educators for sharing their knowledge. Sarah Sutter, Wiscasset High School art teacher presented SCRATCH: Really? But I don’t teach computers and Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Multimedia products of interviews. Tom Coolidge, Telstar Middle School music teacher presented Navigating and Thinking Your Way Through Garage Band. Ann Marie Hutton, Winslow Jr. High School Art Teacher, presented Edusim and SketchUp Meet. Massabesic High School art teacher Bethany Dunfee-Pierce teamed with English teacher Cori Modisette to present Virtual Art Museum Tour and Analysis of Fine Art. Middle School art teacher from Thornton Academy Amy Goodness teamed with Social Studies teacher Heidi Brewer to present Social Art: How do you create opportunities for students to become creative probalme solvers in order to be able to make change in the world?

It was great to catch up with arts educators like Debi Lynn Baker and meet for the first time other educators from throughout Maine.

Imagination Station, an open room where folks can wonder in and out of to ask questions, work on ideas or to obtain general help with the “technology experts” was available throughout the conference.

Captain Dana from the Maine Maritime Academy took 30 participants on a harbor tour. It was a great opportunity to connect with participants in a relaxing environment. The weather was perfect for a late afternoon boat ride, the colors were beautiful.

Bethany Dunfee-Pierce and Cori Modisette

Following the harbor tour was a cookout and we were treated by a performance by the Atlantic Clarion Steel Band, along with the traditional distribution of many great door prizes.

Thank you to Juanita Dickson and Bob McIntire for their work on making the conference a success! If you were unable to attend this year, mark your calendars for the last week in July 2010, for the next summer Setting Sail MLTI Technology conference. If you did attend please post comments. Those of you using Twitter, comments at #MLTIcastine.

Atlantic Clarion Steel Drum Band

Great video!

Here is a 22 minute video that is well worth watching. No need for a long explanation, the title says it best. Please click here.

Gifted and Talented Program in the Bath/Brunswick area

Many school districts are looking for options to meet the educational needs of their Gifted and Talented students for arts education. Here is a model that you can look at more closely. In the Brunswick area for the last 10 years at the high school level, and three years for the middle school level, they have been offering workshops in Music (instrumental and vocal), Creative Writing, Visual Arts, Dance and Theater.

The high school program covers five weeks in Oct./Nov. and March/April – once a week for four hours. The middle School program is seven weeks in Jan/Feb – once a week for four hours. Participating schools pay $10,000 each year for both programs.

You can find a description of the program on the webpages at the Maine Department of Education by clicking here. If you have specific program questions please email Susan Weems, coordinator of the program, @ susanweems@gwi.net.