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Grant aids school-arts alliance Oregon Arts Council funds Central Point school program By VICKI GUARINO A Central Point School District project to turn schools into community centers will get more help from artists. The project will mean more classes for kids and entire families and new evening sessions at the district's middle schools in Central Point and Gold Hill, according to the Arts Council of Southern Oregon. Led by local artists, the programs will be incorporated into the school district's 21st Century Community Learning Centers project. The Art's Council has received a $3,230 grant for its Central Point district programs from the Oregon Arts Commission. The grant was part of $120,000 awarded to arts efforts around the state in the Arts Build Communities program. Arts Build Communities is designed to broaden the impact of the arts in the community and to foster community partnerships. The Central Point 21st Century Learning Centers program, initiated two years ago with a federal grant, is dedicated to opening school buildings to communities for health, educational and enrichment programs. Learning Centers have offered afternoon, evening, weekend and summer activities for kids and adults, some led by professional artists. The new state arts commission grant will permit past programs to continue, says arts council staffer Lyn Godsey, who coordinates the council's activities in the Learning Centers project. The funds also will pay for Godsey's efforts to expand services through more grants. She says Central Point School District officials are requesting greater Arts Council involvement because programs so far have been popular and beneficial -- especially for kids who have had behavior problems in the classroom. "A lot of these kids, when they are doing art they are focused and on task," Godsey says. The habits from art classes, she says, seem to help them in school. Plans for expansion include more consistent arts classes after school. Artists would come in once a week throughout a semester or school year. Currently, arts sessions run daily for a one- or two-week period. Plans also call for expanding parent/child art night classes to the Hanby and Scenic middle schools. The programs have been offered at the district's elementary schools. Because the state commission funding is just now coming to the arts council, Godsey says, the new programs haven't been scheduled yet. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA