Arts Alive in Education
In a society that seems more motivated to cut the Arts from curriculum in schools in order to direct more funds to facilities, athletics, and core disciplines, one school in Sioux Falls has done quite the opposite, and with stunning results!
Eugene Field Elementary is an “A+” school, South Dakota’s first and only since 2001. A+ stands for “Arts plus Academics,” where daily art instruction is embedded into the core curriculum to “ensure that all children, traditional and nontraditional learners, have an opportunity to reveal their understanding of the standards through a variety of enriched assessment.” Classroom and Art teachers collaborate to make sure that the curriculum and the arts, including drama, visual art, music, and dance, are effectively intertwined.
Recently, I spent a week at Eugene Field doing an Inner Voice Workshop, and the students’ ability to grasp poetry, lyrics, and song structure, and then recognize their connection to a life of value was immediately evident. Their depth of critical thinking and sense of civil responsibility in the 4th grade was far beyond my expectations, and significantly different from the students I have worked with all over the state in traditional school settings.
After my week there, I reflected in depth on the experience. With such incredibly positive results, I find it hard to believe that every school in this country is not taking the necessary steps to become an A+ school. To see so many children perform at such a high level, children from every background, every ethnicity, every demographic…well…they certainly were an A+ school, in more ways than one!
All I can think about now is learning even more about how they operate when I go back for another residency in March, this time with the 2nd graders, and bring it back to Sturgis where my daughter goes to school. Perhaps I can help create the 2nd A+ school in our state. If you are intrigued, if you care about the education your children are getting, maybe you’d like to help inspire some change in that direction as well. Give me a call; let’s collaborate!