October 2007
Seattle Schools Make a Commitment to the Arts
As schools and districts become more aligned with federal and state education requirements and reliant on state test scores to measure success, it is easy to forget that creativity is also essential to a human’s full development. The arts are often seen as secondary, relegated to a supplementary, sometimes obligatory, component that schools squeeze in as time allows.
Bucking this trend, Seattle Public Schools has made the first step in a profound commitment towards ensuring that an arts education is fully fostered and safe-guarded. After a multi-year collaboration, in partnership with the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and the Seattle Arts Commission Education Committee, Carri Campbell was hired in July as the district’s new visual and performing arts manager.
Campbell will head a leadership team, hired over the next five years, comprised of four arts “coaches” representing each major art discipline – Visual Arts, Music, Dance and Theater. The search for the first position – a music coach – is in progress, and the second coach will be hired in the next two years.
“Our goal over the next five years is to increase arts education capacity and support general classroom teachers providing instruction in the arts. Our coaches will work with teachers to identify clear connections where the arts can be imbedded into their daily curriculum and support learning across disciplines,” says Campbell.
No other district in the state has this level of intention for providing an arts education, and Seattle joins only a handful of other cities in the nation – New York, Chicago, Dallas and Denver – with this degree of commitment to an arts-rich education. The goals are supported by the District’s Chief Academic Advisor, Carla J. Santorno, who has experience in the arts-rich Denver system.
A LIFE IN THE ARTS
Campbell’s own life embodies this connection between education and art. Both her mother and grandmother were art teachers and her aunt is an artist. Campbell initially planned to get an arts degree at Western Washington University before switching to elementary education. “There was real value attached to the arts in our family,” says Campbell. “Visual art was infused into my life.”
With her degree from WWU and a Masters of Education in Integrated Curriculum from the University of Washington, Campbell applied her passion for art towards education. As a teacher in the Mukilteo School District, Campbell threaded her art training into her daily teaching routine, as well as developing an after-school art program. Campbell also spent four years at the Tacoma Art Museum as the manager of K-12 School and Teacher Programs. Later she worked with ArtsEd Washington helping Washington schools meet state standards in art and with various principals to develop sustainable arts programs for their schools.
As the visual and performing arts manager, Campbell will first look at how different schools in the district teach art, noting areas of strength and weakness. During the 2008-2009 year, the school district will assess students’ overall performance in the arts. Campbell and her team will then develop a framework to help schools plan their programs and make sure that each school has the resources and professional support it needs.
“While a general framework will be established for all the schools to follow – one with clear expectations aligned with state art requirements – each school’s program also needs to reflect the unique community in which it is located and the students they serve,” says Campbell.
THE ADAMS MODEL
Seattle already has some outstanding art models within its radius. One of these, Adams Elementary School in Ballard, has an award-winning art program in which “Artists in Residence” work with teachers to train them in numerous skills, which the teachers in turn integrate into their daily teaching. Kids learn about geometric shapes while silk-screening a banner, or study electricity by drawing electrical diagrams. Kinesthetic learning also comes into play, as children experience theater arts, such as juggling or tumbling, as they meet their physical education requirements.
My son, now in second grade, was a beneficiary of the Adams program during the first half of his kindergarten year. One of my favorite projects was when the kids studied Native American history and storytelling. Using crumpled paper bags as “animal skins,” each child applied different Native American picture symbols to tell a story. With help, they also wrote their stories on an accompanying paper. Although my son was just learning to read and write, the symbols he chose and how he organized them gave me a wonderful glimpse into how he understood and used language.
Adams’ particular model was developed by Sara Liberty-Laylin. After retiring as Adams’ principal, Liberty-Laylin held Campbell’s position last year on an interim basis, and she will remain as an advisor in the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
“The district has always had a commitment to the arts,” says Campbell, “but the difference now is that that commitment has been articulated into a plan.” According to Campbell, it is the partnership with outside entities, such as the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, the Seattle Arts Commission and other local arts and civic organizations that will allow for long-term change.
“We live in an arts-rich city,” says Campbell. “Our job is to best prepare all our kids to be equipped for life, and art is an essential component of that preparedness.”
Repeated studies show that involvement with the arts actually increases a child’s academic achievement and fosters self reflection, high order thinking skills, and innovation. “The Arts accommodate and support all learners. Music, Dance, Theater and Visual Arts engage children that may be struggling academically and provide them with an opportunity to really shine,” says Campbell. “For children looking for additional academic challenge, the Arts offer new ways of learning and opportunities to explore multiple solutions to a problem. With art there are no boundaries – it can really meet all children’s needs.”
Dana Thompson is a Bainbridge
Island writer and mother of two.
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