me arts ed

Arundel

Written by David Greenham, Producing Director, The Theater at Monmouth and member of the IIC visiting team to Arunde. Photographs by David Greenham and Gail Scott.

There are, of course, real positives and negatives of the state’s consolidation efforts. Some of them we know about already, and many are still imagined. The Imagination Intensive Visiting Team had the opportunity late last month to get a first hand look at the excitement and fear of consolidation when we visited the Mildred L. Day School in Arundel, which is now part of RSU 21.

As a performing artist and producer of touring shows on behalf of The Theater At Monmouth, I’m well aware of the Mildred L. Day School’s reputation for embracing the creative arts, so it was no surprise to me to see them among the six exemplary schools and districts that were included in this first round of the Imagination Intensive program.

Our visit to the school on May 20th was delightful. We had the opportunity to see the wonderful and creative projects at the school, along with a glimpse of the kind of creative partnerships that I hope the future will have in store for the children of Arundel and their teachers.

The morning started with a meeting with the Unified Arts Team and others. The Mildred Day School, which has been its own school district, is bursting with creative energy, and certainly living up to its reputation.

Students arrive at Heartwood College of Art

But, thanks to the innovative Kennebunk Education Foundation, which each year raises tens of thousands of dollars for programs at the RSU 21 schools, the fifth graders jumped on a bus and rode about 10 minutes down Route 1 to go to the Heartwood College of Art. RSU 21 art teacher Darlene Nein arranged a day of creating. Students had visited a few days earlier to experience drawing, printmaking, charcoal drawing, watercolor, cartooning, ceramics, femo, photography, and jewelry making, and now returned to spend the day trying their hand at one of them.

Hot off the press! Monotype printing at Heartwood

As the day long visit ended, the sense of change hit home for the staff and Imagination Intensive team. Will the terrific spirit of the Mildred Day School be compromised or lost by its joining in with the much larger RSU? Already change is evident. MLD first year Music Teacher Jeanne MacDonald’s contact was lost in budget cuts, and other Unified Arts Team teachers, Audrey Grumbling, Jon Woodcock will be splitting time at other schools, tripling the number of students they serve. The district hopes they will bring their creative energies to the other schools, while they and the MLD staff worry about how much will be lost by more split focus and less one on one time with students.

Jeanne MacDonald, music teacher

The Kennebunk Education Foundation has embraced the newest school in the district and will clearly bring additional funding for special programs to the school. So there is certainly sadness and concern, but also excitement about what the collaborative nature of the MLD school can bring to the district, and what the expanded resources that come with a larger student, teacher and parent base can bring to the MLD school.

As Shakespeare’s shipwrecked Viola says as she tries to understand her predicament: “O time, thou must untangle this, not I, it is too hard a knot for me to untie.” Like Twelfth Night, it will be great fun to watch. My money is always on creative energy winning the day!

The project is being conducted by the Maine Alliance for Arts Education and the Maine Department of Education. The project is supported in part by a grant from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Betterment Foundation and the Maine Arts Commission supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

This is the last post describing our first round of Imagination Intensive Communities. If you are interested in learning more and how to nominate your community next year please contact me at argy.nestor@maine.gov