ArtsNOW Receives $460,000 Grant from Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation to Expand SmART Literacy Initiative in Fulton County Schools

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ArtsNOW Receives $460,000 Grant from Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation to Expand SmART Literacy Initiative in Fulton County Schools

Speaker in a room full of people talking about the power of arts integration at Angel Oak Elementary School

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, an independent private foundation dedicated to supporting education, health, and economic opportunity for children in metro Atlanta, has awarded a $460,000 grant to ArtsNOW. This grant, distributed over three years, will support the expansion of the SmART Literacy initiative to four elementary schools in the Atlanta area.

SmART Literacy, originally funded by the AAEDD (Assistance for Arts Education Development and Dissemination) federal grant, has a proven track record of enhancing student achievement by integrating various art forms into literacy-focused content. Over the past five years, this initiative has significantly improved teachers' ability to blend arts with reading and writing instruction, resulting in higher reading levels, better writing skills, and increased student engagement and enjoyment of learning.

Thanks to the generous support from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, ArtsNOW will expand the SmART Literacy initiative to include four elementary schools in metro Atlanta.

During the spring of 2024, ArtsNOW collaborated with Fulton County Schools district leadership to select the following four elementary schools to participate in the initiative:

  • H. Gullatt Elementary School
  • Hamilton E. Holmes Elementary School
  • Ison Springs Elementary School
  • Vickery Mill Elementary School

ArtsNOW conducted school visits to meet with each principal and school leadership teams to understand the specific needs of each school.

"We are honored to receive this generous grant from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation," said Pamela Walker, President and CEO of ArtsNOW. "This support will enable us to extend our reach and impact, helping more students develop vital literacy skills through the arts. We look forward to working closely with these schools to create customized plans that meet their unique needs."

After the school year ended, each elementary school sent a team of teachers and administrators to attend the ArtsNOW Foundational Seminar. These seminars provide educators (K-12) with the tools to implement arts-integrated strategies effectively, fostering a more engaging and dynamic learning environment for students. During the professional learning, an arts-integrated foundation was laid so teachers could begin planning to integrate music, dance, theatre, and visual arts into their class content for the next school year.

The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation focuses on making grants in five program areas: early childhood education, K-12 education, children and youth, human services, and health. By investing in well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support, the Foundation seeks to help organizations with a proven track record of success seize new opportunities or meet extraordinary needs.

For more information about the SmART Literacy initiative or to learn how your school can get involved, please visit artsnowlearning.org.

About ArtsNOW:

ArtsNOW is a national non-profit that offers customized solutions to improve teacher efficacy and student results through authentic arts integration into academic content.

About the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation:

The Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation is an independent private foundation that seeks to help people in need in metro Atlanta, particularly children, by investing in education, health, and economic opportunity. The Foundation is responsive to the needs of the community and typically makes grants to well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support.

 

Media Contact:

Shenley Rountree

Director of Marketing & Development

ArtsNOW

[email protected]

Combating the Summer Slide with the Arts & Learning

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Combating the Summer Slide with the Arts & Learning

Speaker in a room full of people talking about the power of arts integration at Angel Oak Elementary School

As the sun beckons and school doors close for the summer, children eagerly anticipate the freedom from classrooms, homework, and structured learning. However, amidst the excitement of summer vacation, there lurks a phenomenon known as the "summer slide" – a decline in academic skills and knowledge over the extended break. While it's natural for kids to relish the break, it's crucial for parents and educators to recognize the importance of maintaining a balance between leisure and continued learning during this time.

The summer slide is a well-documented phenomenon backed by research in education. Studies have shown that students can lose up to two months of grade-level equivalency in math skills and reading proficiency over the summer months. This decline in academic progress can have significant implications, leading to students struggling to catch up once they return to school in the fall. It's a concerning trend, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who may lack access to educational resources during the break.

One of the main contributors to the summer slide is the lack of consistent practice and exposure to educational materials during the summer months. Without the daily structure provided by school, children may spend more time engaged in passive activities like watching TV or playing video games, which do less to stimulate their minds. As a result, the neural connections formed during the school year can weaken, leading to a decline in academic skills.

So, what can parents and caregivers do to combat the summer slide and ensure their children continue to learn and grow during the break? The key is to foster a culture of learning that is both enjoyable and engaging for children. While traditional academic exercises are important, integrating the arts into summer learning can provide a creative and enriching way for children to stay engaged. Here are some practical tips:

  1. Dance and Movement: Incorporate dance into your child's summer routine to keep them active and engaged. Whether it's learning a new dance style, creating choreography, or simply moving to the rhythm of their favorite songs, dance enhances physical fitness, coordination, and cognitive skills like memory and concentration. As you travel this summer, this activity from ArtsNOW Consultant Melissa Joy can help your child learn about map skills and explore topography with cardinal directions.
  2. Visual Arts Exploration: Set up a mini art studio at home where children can experiment with different art mediums such as painting, drawing, or sculpting. Encourage them to explore their creativity and express themselves through art. You can also visit local museums or art galleries for inspiration and exposure to different artistic styles. You could even just visit your kitchen pantry, with this fun activity from ArtsNOW Consultant Shannon Green.
  3. Musical Adventures: Introduce children to the world of music by encouraging them to learn a new instrument, explore different genres, or create their own compositions. Music not only enhances cognitive skills but also fosters emotional expression and creativity. Here’s an engaging activity with ArtsNOW Consultant Maribeth Yoder that you can do when making lunch or at storytime!
  4. Drama and Theater: Organize fun drama activities or put on a backyard theater production with family and friends. Acting out scenes from favorite books or creating original scripts helps children develop communication skills, empathy, and confidence. Check out ArtsNOW Consultant Susie Purcell’s activity “This is Not a Box” as a prompt to get the imagination going!
  5. Creative Writing and Storytelling: Encourage children to unleash their imagination through creative writing and storytelling. Provide them with prompts or writing challenges to inspire their creativity. This not only strengthens their language skills but also fosters self-expression and confidence.

By integrating the arts into summer learning, parents and caregivers can provide children with a holistic and enriching educational experience that goes beyond traditional academic exercises. You can find more family resources on our website at https://artsnowlearning.org/resources/at-home-lessons/.

Whether it's painting a masterpiece, composing a melody, or performing in a play, the arts offer endless opportunities for creativity, self-discovery, and personal growth. So, as summer approaches, let's embrace the power of the arts to inspire, engage, and empower our children to continue learning and thriving throughout the summer months and beyond.

ArtsNOW Awarded ‘Vibrant Communities’ Grant from Georgia Council for the Arts

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ArtsNOW Awarded ‘Vibrant Communities’ Grant from Georgia Council for the Arts

Speaker in a room full of people talking about the power of arts integration at Angel Oak Elementary School

ArtsNOW was awarded a Vibrant Communities grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts, a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, for fiscal year 2024. The Vibrant Communities Grant supports a variety of arts programming throughout the state.

As a District Partner in Education with the Barrow County School System, ArtsNOW seized the opportunity to utilize this grant to introduce more BCSS students to the enriching world of arts-integrated learning.

Through the grant's generous funding, ArtsNOW proudly launched "Arts in the Afternoon," an innovative after-school program designed to engage students from second through eighth grade. This program, spearheaded by ArtsNOW Consultants Shannon Green (Visual Arts) and Susie Spear Purcell (Theatre), in collaboration with ArtsNOW Barrow Teacher Leaders Laura Payne and Ashley Bailey, offered a dynamic curriculum spanning three weeks.

Over 50 students enrolled from ten different BCSS schools. Students enjoyed “Arts in the Afternoon” with Balanced Sculptures (Week 1), I Am Poems & Masks (Week 2), and Spring Painting (Week 3). There was no cost to students due to the generous funding from the Georgia Council for the Arts and its supporters.

“Arts funding is crucial for the cultivation of vibrant, thriving communities, and Georgia Council for the Arts is excited to help our arts organizations achieve their mission, enhance downtowns, and support small businesses,” said Georgia Council for the Arts Director Tina Lilly. “We hear from grantees about how the investment of these dollars provides long-term benefits for organizations and communities, and we are grateful to the Georgia General Assembly for providing this support to improve quality of life across the state.”

About Georgia Council for the Arts

Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) is a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development whose mission is to cultivate the growth of vibrant, thriving Georgia communities through the arts. GCA provides grant funding, programs, and services statewide that support the vital arts industry, preserve the state’s cultural heritage, increase tourism, and nurture strong communities. Funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts is provided by appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit www.gaarts.org for more information.

About GDEcD

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state’s sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, align workforce education and training with in-demand jobs, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a destination for arts and location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. Visit www.georgia.org for more information.

ArtsNOW Partners with Georgia Tech CEISMC on Summer Camps

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ArtsNOW Partners with Georgia Tech CEISMC on Summer Camps

Speaker in a room full of people talking about the power of arts integration at Angel Oak Elementary School

"The ArtsNOW—CEISMC partnership is the perfect pairing! We will push the limits of our collaboration to see just how far a strong, vibrant, nationally recognized arts-in-education nonprofit organization and a world-class technical research university can go to provide innovative STEAM programming for K-12th grade students and teachers across Georgia and beyond. The potential is limitless!"

- Lizanne DeStefano, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Education Integrating Science, Math, and Computing (CEISMC), Georgia Institute of Technology

ArtsNOW has partnered with Georga Tech CEISMC for the past three years in Savannah for summer camps. We are excited to offer a workshop at the Atlanta P.E.A.K.S. camp in June 2024. Elementary, middle, and high school students can garner hands-on experience with various educational activities.

At Georgia Tech, the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) Expanded Learning Programs provide inspiring STEAM enrichment and outreach for K-12 students. They provide innovative STEAM educational outreach opportunities to thousands of students annually. The programs offer students hands-on, exciting, and innovative ways to learn about science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.

Atlanta - Week 1: Make It! Wear It!: Creating Wearable Fashion through Technology

Date/Times: Jun 3-7, 2024, 9:00AM - 3:00PM

Grades: 4th-5th Grades

Details: Get ready to take your fashion sense to the next level in this futurist workshop on wearable electronics. In partnership with ArtsNOW, this weeklong session will introduce students to the world of wearable technology through hands-on sewable circuits and visual art STEAM activities. Join us and experience the brightest of Fashion!

Location: The main GT Campus is in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. More specific details will be provided closer to the program start date.

Price: $500

Register Now

SAVANNAH: Creating Wearable Art

Date/Times: Jun 10-14, 2024, 9:00AM - 3:00PM

Grades: 4th-5th Grades

Details: Masks with lights, vests with speakers, armor with sensors, and accessories that react to the sun. Let your creativity flow with sew-on LEDs, conductive paint, and clay. Build and wear your own character creations!

Location: Georgia Tech-Savannah campus, 190 Technology Circle Savannah, Georgia 31407

Price: $350

Register Now

SAVANNAH: Artbotics

Date/Times: July 8-12, 2024, 9:00AM - 3:00PM

Grades: 4th-5th Grades

Details: Ever used science or math to create an artistic masterpiece? How about coding to write a song? Artbotics is a program designed to bring your creativity to life and have fun along the way! Each participant will create their own unique and interactive piece of artwork using a combination of traditional art mediums, coding, and robotics. The week will be capped off with a gallery showing for family and friends.

Location: Georgia Tech-Savannah campus, 190 Technology Circle Savannah, Georgia 31407

Price: $350

Register Now

Five Reasons to Talk about Arts-In-Education

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Five Reasons to Talk about Arts-In-Education

Speaker in a room full of people talking about the power of arts integration at Angel Oak Elementary School

The once quiet conversation about arts integration has grown louder during the last twenty years. After more than two decades of research demonstrating that arts integration improves student engagement and teacher confidence, many still have questions simply because they have yet to participate in the discussion fully.

While the merits of arts integration are apparent, we live in a climate where the educational "squeaky wheel" tends to get the most support from local and national government agencies, corporate and foundation funding, and individuals. Although gaining strength and support as a grassroots movement of parents and educators, arts integration often gets overlooked as a critical funding initiative.

It's time for arts integration to have a more prominent seat at the public education table. Expanding the conversation and spreading the word can help secure that seat.

Here are five reasons to keep arts integration top of mind:

  1. Arts integration creates space for all learners. Art welcomes and encourages differentiated learning, at each student's level and pace. Educators using different art forms in the classroom create pathways for every type of learner to receive, navigate, process, generate, and communicate, thereby making each student feel valued and integral to the learning process.
  2. Arts integration allows students to demonstrate their learning through an art Students engage in a creative process that connects an art form and another subject area, allowing them to meet evolving objectives in both. This interdisciplinary approach fosters deeper understanding and retention of academic content while nurturing students' creativity and critical thinking skills.
  3. Arts integration improves student engagement and teacher confidence in the classroom. Arts integration is a way of exploring ideas that interest everyone. It is as exciting for the teachers to create the learning environment as it is for the students to learn academic content through the arts. When teachers find joy in the work, students experience joy in learning.
  4. Arts integration strengthens collaboration and relationship-building. Since teachers and students are engaged and active in the arts-integrated classroom experience, students work alongside their teachers. Arts integration promotes conversation, expression, curiosity, and partnership, creating opportunities for students to step into leadership roles in ways that textbooks and lectures rarely facilitate.
  5. Arts integration has a lasting impact on student families and school communities. Arts integration leads to more meaningful communication between parents and the school community. By displaying students' work and accomplishments, parents and teachers gain a roadmap for fostering enhanced student confidence and academic performance. In addition, schools engaging in arts-integrated programming report higher attendance and lower discipline rates. Furthermore, arts integration initiatives often encourage family involvement through exhibitions, performances, and workshops, strengthening the bond between home and school and fostering a supportive educational ecosystem for students to flourish.

Research has unequivocally shown the benefits of arts integration for enhancing student engagement and teacher confidence. Yet, despite the evidence, the conversation around arts integration continues to struggle for the spotlight it deserves. By advocating for the integration of arts into education and supporting initiatives that promote its implementation, we can ensure that all students have access to a well-rounded education that nurtures their creativity, critical thinking, and overall academic success. Let's not let the quiet voices advocating for arts integration be drowned out in the clamor for attention; instead, let's amplify their message and work together to create a brighter future for our students.