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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 7, 2005 Bringing arts to kids Groups find funds to expand school programs in city By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings On Tuesday, more than 100 second, third, fourth and fifth graders from four classes at Walker Elementary performed southern India native dances they learned from an artist in residence. Andrea Luchese teaches an Indian folk dance to Walker Elementary School students Gabe Heiken, left, and Chloe Haynes. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings The five-week course taught by dance instructor Andrea Luchese was paid for by an Ashland Schools Foundation grant, though parents and teachers of students who participated had planned to hire Luchese with their own money before Walker principal Michelle Zundel appealed to ASF for funding. “We try to make it as integrated as possible,” said Dan Hamnett, who teaches a fourth- and fifth-grade blend class. Hamnett’s students used the dance classes to expand on topics they have been discussing since September. They have been studying world geography all year and are working on independent projects about another culture or country. Two girls in his class are doing a joint project about India and Luchese was excited to return to the school to help the girls with their presentations. “I think part of my contribution is to make [dance] accessible to children and adults, especially in a community like Ashland,” Luchese said. “This is a really enriching experience for students. They’re getting to experience a taste of another culture through its art form.” The Advancing Arts in Ashland committee works to create programs such as the Walker dance residency and stresses their importance to the school community by connecting funding sources with artistic needs in the district. The committee also advises the school district about art-related issues, including curriculum and staffing. “The arts are considered a part of every student’s required education,” said A3 founder and facilitator Sara-Lynne Simpson, highlighting the admission requirements of some colleges for incoming freshman to have studied in an artistic area for at least a year. A high priority The mentality surrounding the dance program at Walker School and A3 echoes the dominant view in Ashland. Improving arts and music programming in Ashland schools is the community’s second-highest priority, according to a 2004 school district survey conducted by Davis, Hibbitts and Midghall, Inc. The survey listed 12 goals of the school district, including providing an all-day kindergarten, improving P.E. programming and meeting state academic standards. Arts and music programming garnered 12 percent of the “urgent priority” vote and 47 percent of the “high priority” vote. Decreasing class sizes was the highest rated issue: 20 percent listed it as urgent; 40 percent said it was a high priority. During their final rehearsal, students asked Luchese to let them dance without her direction to see if they knew it well enough to perform without her in the future. The undirected rendition was a little shaky in places, but the students — who learned the folk dance through nine 45-minute lessons — did it. “She’s had tremendous success keeping the kids together,” Hamnett said, highlighting the shift in attitude evident in the students. “She’s brilliant because she’s taught in a very disciplined way.” Stepping up Simpson formed A3 in fall 2003, when she learned the drama program at Ashland Middle School was being cut “just in time for my daughter to miss out on what was most important to her,” Simpson said. Simpson had worked in Bay Area school districts to rebuild arts programs decimated by budget cuts and believed she could help revitalize cash-strapped programs in Ashland as well. The committee brought together parents, educators and artists in the community to identify needs and funding sources, then connected one to the other. “Here’s a need. Because we’re working together, we can fill it,” Simpson said. “If you don’t have this, no one knows what the needs are.” For example, the group found almost $2,000 donated to ASF by Dal Carver, owner of the Wild Goose Cafe and Bar. He sells CDs of holiday songs every year and gives the profits to the foundation. The money, without a specific earmark, just sat in a bank account. Meanwhile, aging musical instruments in Ashland schools had been set aside because the music program couldn’t afford the repair costs. A3 found the funds from the Wild Goose, asked Carver if he considered the repair of the decrepit instruments a reasonable use for it and got the OK. Two academic years after the creation of A3, “we’ve had a whole bunch of wins without one dollar from the district having been spent,” Simpson said, highlighting dance programs at elementary schools and AMS, the purchase of new choir robes and the latest project, an afterschool visual arts program at AMS taught by SOU students in the teaching program. Ongoing work A3 has also been instrumental in the creation of the arts recommendation section of the Ashland Quality Education Model, which was adopted by the Ashland School Board in April. The arts recommendation advocates for the creation of a visual and performing arts director for the district because “arts engage the community in a different way,” Simpson said. In Simpson’s mind, the arts director would be responsible for work similar to what A3 has been doing for two years — identify needs, make connections and push arts as a key part of students’ education. The arts director would also be charged with directing what sort of education in the arts AHS graduates would be required to have and the creation of a district calendar of arts events. “In the arts you need that,” Simpson said. “It’s much more of a community thing.” The final meeting of A3 this year will be held on May 16. For more information, contact Simpson at 488-0171 or [email protected]. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3019 or [email protected] DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks Heloc Calenders 2005 Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation Home Equity Loans teleconferencing W2 Forms cortisol weight loss Diamonds Paris Hilton Mesothelioma Free Home-Loan Referrals Tatoos Website Design & Marketing Student Loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems Helzberg Diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Tatoo Poker Games Homeschooling Auto Insurance Mortgage Calculator Mailing Lists Payday Loans Click Here .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams