Young Audiences
OnLineBITS...Professional Development

Standards

As part of the Arts, Cultural, & Education (ACE) Partners Expansion Project, YA Rochester worked with six school districts, BOCES Staff Development, and arts and cultural organizations to plan a two-day summer workshop called Curriculum Standards Involving the Arts. Teams of classroom and arts teachers from each district focused on the third grade social studies curriculum and arts standards in hopes of making connections with arts and cultural organizations. Cultural organizations participating in ACE Partners presented a brief description of the resources each has to enhance, illuminate, or illustrate concepts or content in the curriculum. Each of the thirty teachers in attendance received an Educator's Guide to Community Arts and Cultural Resources, the ACE Partners resource book which has just been distributed to every school in Monroe County.

Special Needs

YA/New York partnered with several schools to implement projects funded through the Federal governments Goals 2000 initiative to support instructional reform. At a school for special needs students, YA New/York artists provided staff development in demonstrating how the arts can be a catalyst for the development of reading and writing skills in students whose functional skills are especially low. At one elementary school the emphasis is on oral language development; at another school, residencies were provided in poetry, visual arts and music, emphasizing ways that the teacher could incorporate these arts activities into their own teaching.

Preschool

YA New Jersey will work with Babyland Nursery in an ambitious professional development program for teachers in the prestigious Newark preschool. Through music and movement, the visual arts, language arts, and theatre, a two year residency program will serve 800 three- and four-year olds in seven centers. By project's end, all participating teachers will be able to guide both classroom staff and parents in the uses of the arts in childhood education. A comprehensive curriculum guide is also being prepared for statewide distribution.

Mentoring

Apprenticeship is a time honored tradition, and YA St. Louis takes it to new heights with a project that give artists on the job training from their peers. In this new Mentor Program, neophyte artists work with seasoned presenters to discover what it takes to get organized, produce plans for teachers, and work in the school environment. The process includes a full schedule of meetings and co-teaching sessions that guide new artists through modeling, reflection, journal writing, and hands-on opportunities. Both the artists being mentored and the artist guides are paid by the chapter for their services. Initial reports on the program indicate a high degree of success with school officials and artists alike.

Integrating Arts

In YA Cleveland, the Stocker Foundation is supporting Arts Smart on NEOEA Day, a teacher in-service day in northeast Ohio. A series of hands-on workshops by roster artists will feature dance, masks, theatre and visual arts. The artists will join district curriculum specialists in a panel discussion: Designing and Implementing an Integrated Arts Curriculum.

The above OnLineBITS... are excerpts from the Fall 1996 issue of Program Developments, published by Young Audiences, Inc. covering programmatic news from around the YA network.