ARTS EDUCATION AWARENESS PROGRAM
Thursday, October 8th from 6:00-7:00 pm
Iron Springs Elementary School

Iron Springs, Escalante Valley and North Elementary schools have been piloting a new program in arts education, funded by the Utah Legislature. Come learn about the progress these schools have made after the first year of the program. Attendees of this Arts Night will view student artwork; meet Program Director Janet Wolf and one of Utah’s leading philanthropists, Beverley Taylor Sorenson; and discover what they can do to help secure this program in Iron County.

Last year, the Utah State Legislature passed a bill to fund the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTSALP), a program that provides quality “integrated arts learning” in 20 districts and 52 schools across Utah.  It currently serves approximately 30,000 students.  

The BTSALP has enabled local art specialists Mona Woolsey (Escalante Valley and North Elementary) and Alisa Petersen (Iron Springs) to use visual arts to reinforce core content areas of study such as math and literacy.  Our pilot schools are also participating in a pioneering study of how the arts impact academic performance, social skills, creativity and self-worth. Preliminary findings suggest that this arts-enriched educational program has a dramatic effect on many aspects of a child’s elementary education experience. Most impressive are the observed improvements in confidence, focus, and overall ability to succeed in school and life.

This excellent program has been funded for two years; however, the initial plan was to test the program for four years. Unless continued funding is awarded, the important assessment aspects of the program will be incomplete. Students and teachers will lose the powerful tool of integrated arts learning.

The Arts Night at Iron Springs will help raise awareness and support of this program and its goals. The North Starz Choir will perform at 6:00 pm, followed by an address from Beverley Taylor Sorenson, the visionary behind this statewide program.  Following her address, there will be a gallery stroll of student artwork from all three schools, parents will be able to visit the Iron Springs Art classroom, and a special exhibit of Navajo Weaving from the Utah Arts Council will be on display.

Join the cause by attending this event and finding out how you might help to support this essential arts program.
 
The first session of the drawing with Dixon Leavitt workshops was this Wednesday. The class was totally packed and it was really fantastic.  Teachers learned more about how to access the right side of their brain, and why drawing helps us actually become smarter.  We learned that drawing is all about understanding relationships and that you can draw anything as long as you remember ASAP (angle, size and proportion.)  Can't wait 'til next week!
 
The Cedar City Music Arts are offering wonderful matinees for our school children this year.  The following events are available for the following grades:

3rd Grade:
November 4, 2009 10:00 a.m.  Elena Urioste ,violin Robert Thies,  piano

5th Grade
January 29, 2010 10:00 a.m.  Cathedral of the Madeleine Choir 

4th Grade:
March 24,  2010 10:00 a.m.  Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company
 
2nd Grade:
April 22. 2010 10:00a.m.   Yuki & Tomoko Mack Duo Pianists
 
Schools have the opportunity to attend a multicultural dance festival sponsored by the SUU Ballroom Dance Company. This festival is a multi-cultural showcase that will give your students a chance to experience unique and diverse cultures through the heritage of dance.  The performance is $2 per student and will be held at 10 a.m. on November 13 at the Heritage Center Theatre.

Highlights: American Swing, Argentine Tango, Spanish Paso Doble, Hip HOp and Breakdance, Polenesian, Japanese, Chinese, Native American and many more.

Included for schools that sign up is a multicultural assembly, where participants ot he World of Dance show will come and teach the children about diversity, culture, immigration, and the make-up of their society with many other fun activities.

Contact Mark Baker to reserve space for your students. bakerm(at)suu(dot)edu