What do world-renowned
artists like dancer Martha Graham, painter Vincent Van Gogh, jazz
musician Louis Armstrong and tenor opera singer Luciano Pavarotti
have in common? They, in addition to thousands of other artists
throughout history, will soon be responsible for the education of
children in the High Country.
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the
Appalachian Arts in Education Partnership (AAEP) a $1 million grant
to be used in eight area schools over the next three years to promote
the collaboration of arts and education in the classroom.
“In 1903, we established a school for the
preparation of teachers,” said Appalachian State University
Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski. “When I look at that curriculum,
I’m always taken with the fact that the arts are an integral
part of the curricular development in this area.”
The grant will be used to integrate arts such as theater, dance,
music and visual arts into the curriculum of local schools from
Watauga, Avery, Ashe and Wilkes counties. Selected schools will
be deemed “pilot schools” and will be the first in North
Carolina to merge arts and education together in the classroom to
satisfy students’ different learning styles and increase their
appreciation for the arts.
“Integrating the arts into core curriculum areas has had a
strong impact on student learning and student achievement through
our campus-sponsored programs throughout the years,” said Jane
Lonon, executive director of the Ashe County Arts Council. “This
new Department of Education grant and the AAEP will significantly
increase available resources for our students and for our teachers.”
The department has awarded eight other grants in the United States
totaling $10 million. The AAEP is the only N.C.-based program receiving
funding for the integration of arts and education.
The AAEP is comprised of Appalachian’s Reich College of Education
and Office of Cultural Affairs, as well as schools and art councils
from Watauga County and neighboring counties Ashe, Avery and Wilkes.
Students in the education department will be among the first in
the state to experience this new approach to teaching and learning
first-hand while student teaching in local classrooms.
“We are in the business of preparing teachers,” said Dr.
Charles R. Duke, dean of the college of education. “Being able
to have this kind of project going on in the schools where our students
can see these things actually being modeled in the classroom is
just a tremendous opportunity for teachers in training.”
Duke and H. Perry Mixter, the director of the Office of Cultural
Affairs, wrote the proposal for the grant, in conjunction with various
other members of the AAEP.
The AAEP plans to focus on the A+ philosophy, which places an emphasis
on the incorporation of art into core curriculum. This new philosophy
was created in 1993 by the Kenan Institute for the arts and was
funded by public and private sponsors. Money received from this
grant will be used to train teachers in the A+ philosophy and to
provide students and teachers with the resources necessary to properly
facilitate the integration of arts and education.
“Appalachian prides itself on this tradition of service to
the region and to the togetherness in northwestern N.C. and this
is an integral part of our university,” said Borkowski. |
