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Professional Development / Regional Workshops — November
5, 2009–May 8, 2010
As
part of the work funded by the Kennedy Center for 2010, the
MAAE hosted twelve full-day professional development
workshops for teachers and administrators in partnership
with five Regional Education Service Centers across the
state and with the Mississippi Department of Education.
These free workshops highlight the importance of learning
21st Century skills in Mississippi’s K-12 schools. Each
workshop features three presenters and a fast-paced agenda
of interactive experiences. The training content is
research-based, related to state frameworks, and includes
lessons that model active learning in discipline-specific
arts education and arts integration. Eleven workshops have
been completed: Cleveland, Ocean Springs, Jackson, Meridian,
Tupelo, Greenville, Waynesboro, Gulfport, Laurel, Oxford,
and Madison. The final workshop in this series was held
in Meridian on May 8 at the MSU Riley Center
21st Century Schools for 21st Century Students
An Innovative Workshop for K-12 Teachers and
Administrati\ors
What are the critical characteristics and multiple
literacies that move our schools from the 20th Century into
the 21st Century? This workshop explores the paradigm shift
and essential steps needed to adequately prepare millennium
students for their future through interactive, collaborative
exercises, technology information, and a model
interdisciplinary lesson. Topics include brain compatible
learning, Depth of Knowledge, 21st Century Skills, and the
move from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
to STEAM (incorporating Arts with the STEM areas). The
Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education, which advocates for
balanced curriculum and rich arts experiences for all
students in Mississippi, presented this workshop
Kennedy
Center Alliance for Arts Education Leadership Meeting —
February 2010
The Mississippi
Alliance for Arts Education is a member of the Kennedy
Center Alliance for Arts Education Network, a national
organization of state alliances dedicated to a common
purpose: promoting arts education. Once a year
representatives of the MAAE attend the conference of the
KCAAEN in Washington, D.C. Four members were supposed to
attend, but due to five feet of snow only one was able to
fly into D.C. Since 2003 an MAAE member has served on the
KCAAEN’s Network Leadership Committee, the administrative
component of the national group. In addition, two other
members serve on committees at the national level. Such
representation is a significant accomplishment for the MAAE.
Mississippi has benefited immeasurably from its partnership
with the Kennedy Center.
Day at the Capitol — March
2010
The
MAAE annually joins the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC)
and other arts advocates to sponsor a Day at the Capitol, a
time set aside for visiting with state legislators, held
this year March 23, 2010, in Jackson. Significant budget
cuts statewide in recent years have stimulated the need for
a special response in support of arts programs. In
preparation, the MAAE and others joined with the MAC to
encourage public awareness and a positive legislative
response by direct contact, and/or e-mail and
letter-writing. Our new poster “Arts are Nature’s Way… Why
have courses without the Arts?” and a letter from our MAAE
President were delivered to members of the House and Senate.
Arts Front & Center Forum —
May 7
– 8, 2010
The
“Arts Front and Center Forum,” convened on May 7 – 8,
2010, at the MSU Riley Center in Meridian. The MAAE board of
directors plans to bring together a large and diverse
audience from across the state. The goal of the Forum is to
consider the challenges and embark upon creative and
innovative solutions in education that will support our
mission to RISE ABOVE the dropping test scores, funds, and
attitudes; to commit to RISE ABOVE the problems by lifting
our children’s lives both IN the arts and THROUGH the arts
as they learn to fly and soar… to RISE ABOVE. The forum
purpose is to recognize that tough times call for action… to
recognize the importance of rejuvenating our schools, our
communities, our lives, as we strive to RISE ABOVE and offer
solutions to place considerable emphasis on informing
administrators, funders, parents, and the general public as
to the many outcomes and value of arts in education. John
Abodeely, Program Manager of National Partnerships for the
John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., was the
keynote speaker for the event.
The forum objectives are to
1) raise awareness and appreciation of the impact of an arts
education on a child’s life; 2) gain new insights and
understanding about how schools can become more involved in
arts education; 3) broaden parent and community
understanding and involvement, investment, and support for
arts in education; and 4) recognize and honor teachers,
students, parents, administrators, and community for their
contribution to the education and advocacy support of the
arts across Mississippi. An annual silent auction was held and many door prizes were given. Saturday, May 8
was a day of arts integration workshops.
MAAE Arts Education Awards
— May 7, 2010, 5:00 –
7:00 p.m.
Each
year, the MAAE honors schools, cultural institutions,
programs, and individuals for their positive contributions
to arts education in the state. The TENTH annual Arts
Education Awards Recognition program was held during the
Arts Front and Center Forum, May 7, 2010, at the MSU Riley
Center in Meridian. A special part of the program honored
Patti Finley, a music teacher from Winona Elementary School,
who lost her battle with cancer in February. Awards presented: School of
Excellence Awards; Thad Cochran Distinguished Arts Educator
Awards; Outstanding Administrator of the Year Award; Higher
Education Award; Exemplary Arts Service Award; Arts
Advocacy, and Lifetime Achievement Award. The MAAE believes
this awards program will not only continue to grow, but will
also increase public awareness of high quality arts
education programs across the state and the accomplishments
of students who are the beneficiaries of them.
Kennedy Center / National
Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute — July 2010
An outstanding young musician has been selected to
participate in the 2010 Kennedy Center/National Symphony
Orchestra Summer Music Institute being held in Washington,
D.C. Jocelyn Zhu from Canton, Mississippi, a
violinist, will represent us for a month this summer working
and studying with members of the NSO
in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center! Students who are
juniors/seniors in high school or freshmen/sophomores in
college may submit applications and audition tapes for
consideration each January. Applications are reviewed and up
to five students from the state may be nominated, though
only one is usually selected. The MAAE sponsors student
participation in the institute with the assistance of arts
patrons. This program has stimulated communication among
musicians across the state about opportunities available to
students at the national level.
DANA Foundation Artists’
Training Workshops — July 2007 - July 2009 . . . renewed
2010
In
2007 the MAAE received a large-scale Rural Initiatives Grant
from the DANA Foundation. The award supported a project
designed to increase student access to arts education. The
MAAE offered a series of six professional development
training sessions for teaching artists who wish to work with
teachers in K-12 classrooms. These were held in north,
central and south Mississippi. Four workshops were conducted
in partnership with the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Whole
Schools Initiative. The remaining two were offered in
partnership with museums in the state. Performing and visual
artists were selected for the workshops through an
application process. The goal of the series of workshops was
to increase the number of artists included in the
Mississippi Arts Commission’s Arts in Education Roster.
In 2009, the MAAE was awarded a grant in the amount of
$25,000 over one year by the Dana Foundation to continue the
professional development work initiated two years ago. The
format of this new funding allowed the MAAE to implement
three workshops in 2009. One of the workshops provided
advanced training for artists who participated in the first
series. Other workshops replicated the sessions previously
offered at the introductory level.
In February 2010, the DANA Foundation awarded us a 4th
year of funding! Two of the workshops will provide initial
training for teaching artists, and the third will provide
advanced training.
Mississippi Arts
Commission Whole Schools Initiative — July 18
–
22 2010
The
MAAE works closely with the Whole Schools Initiative (WSI)
and its host institution, the Mississippi Arts Commission,
by providing speakers, Field Advisors, presenters, and by
promoting partner events. MAAE publicizes accomplishments of
the initiative, provides technical assistance at statewide
and local venues, and facilitates the involvement of higher
education in the ongoing work of the initiative. The WSI
provides a venue for MAAE advocacy and membership activities
at its annual Whole Schools Institute, a week-long gathering
for over 300 teachers, administrators, and stakeholders. The
2010 WSI is being held at Mississippi State University Riley
Center for Education and Performing Arts on July 18 - 22.
This federally recognized arts education model continues to
bring favorable attention to the state, and has inspired
school districts outside the program to seek ways to
implement the model in their own districts.
Ongoing — Network for Arts
Education in Mississippi
The
MAAE is among those invited by the Mississippi Arts
Commission (MAC) to participate, on a regular basis, in
discussions with other arts education leaders from across
the state. The purpose of these meetings is to seek a better
understanding of the status of arts education in the state
and to explore how the major players might work together to
raise awareness and impact of the arts, particularly in the
legislature.
Ongoing — MSArtsAlliance.com
This
well maintained website provides up-to-date advocacy tools
and information at http://www.msartsalliance.com . A
photo gallery celebrates accomplishments in MAAE
programming. In addition, links to state arts organizations
and institutions as well as to arts education resources are
available. Individuals who wish to attend various
MAAE-sponsored programs may also register online through
access to the website. The website has become a major means
of disseminating information for the MAAE.
Ongoing — FACEBOOK
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