me arts ed

Imagination Intensive Community is Awarded!

This past week Carol Trimble, executive director from Maine Alliance for Arts Education and arts consultant Dennie Wolf traveled to Washington D.C. to the National Education Summit of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. While there they accepted a national Best Practice Award from P21 for Maine’s Imagination Intensive Communities project!

Dr. Steven Paine, West Virginia superintendent of schools and chair of the P21 state partner advisory council, said of the nine states/programs that received awards, “These states are shining examples of best practices related to 21st century learning.  This summit provides an extraordinary illustration for the nation and states as to how to build education systems that ensure 21st century college and career readiness for every student.”

A member of the selection panel spoke to Dennie and Carol and said: “Maine’s project was the most innovative of all of the projects they reviewed.”

This project is one that we all can be proud of! The Maine Department of Education has partnered with the Maine Alliance of Arts Education with funding from the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Arts Commission, The Betterment Fund, and the Kennedy Center to make this program possible.

Special CONGRATULATIONS to the the Imagination Intensity Community sites selected during 2010: North Haven, Arundel, York, George Stevens Academy, Camden-Rockport, and Stonington-Deer Isle. You can read earlier blog posts on each of these communities by typing their name in the meartsed search box on the front page. Funding has just been awarded from the Kennedy Center for the 2011 Imagination Intensive Community work.

Front page of the Bangor Daily News, above the fold!!!

Please don’t miss this WONDERFUL article about Harmony Elementary School music program and the opportunity that Iris Fields and VH1 has provided them. It has been 41 years since there was an instrumental music program at the school. Iris graduated from the high school there in 1953 has returned to make a difference in the lives of students attending the school.

You can read the story and see pictures and terrific video footage of the day the students had their first band rehearsal. It was very exciting indeed to be there and celebrate the great gift that has been afforded the Harmony students. I shared the excitement with Chiho Okuizumi, from VH1, who was visiting Maine for the first time. We know when the dust settles and the students are making music together that it is a special teacher, Iris Fields, who will be creating magic with her students and impacting their lives forever!

Please click here for the story!