Let's Start Again

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Originally uploaded by nolteowe

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog, and I never really got it off the ground. But, I'm revamping it as an experiment for both reflection and documentation of the work that I and other parents do as arts education advocates.

So, to start again, here is my Top Ten List of ways that parents at Casey Elementary have been involved and impacted arts integration in the last few years:

10) Seven parents have graduated from the Parent Leadership Institute of Parents for Public Schools of Jackson. With grant money from the Parent Leadership Institute, parents have brought two visiting artists to Casey.

9) Parents have been actively involved in developing brochures about Art Smart Parents for the Jackson Public School District. Parents serve on the Arts Advisory Leadership Committee for Ask4MoreArts.

8) For two consecutive years, parents have successfully created and implemented a special week long activity for first graders called Rhymes at Rhymes Place.

7) Parents have attended Ask4MoreArts Professional Development workshops alongside teachers from Casey and the district.

6) Parents attend and support Lifeshards at the Mississippi Museum of Art to supplement their childrens' exposure to visual arts in a museum setting.

5) Parents have taken experiences and learning from Ask4More workshops and Lifeshards and led similar workshops for other parents in the district and classrooms of children at other schools in the district.

4) Parents have offered workshops on Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences to other parents at Casey, other parents in the district, and teachers and students at Casey.

3) Alongside teachers from Casey and the district, three parents have attended the Mississippi Arts Commission's Whole Schools Institute in the summers of 2007 and 2008.

2) Parents initiated, planned, developed, and maintained the summer gardening project called the Rainbow Garden and offered art activities alongside a gardening experience each Thursday during the summer of 2008.

1) Three parents presented a workshop on Rhymes at Rhymes Place at the 2008 Fall Retreat for the Whole Schools Initiative.

Now, these are just highlights. There are countless other ways that parents support arts integration every day. We help teachers with projects in the classroom. We help our own children with projects at home. We take our children to arts events in the community. We attend arts advisory meetings to stay aware of what teachers are planning and doing. We help hang up and take down artwork in the hallways every few weeks. We plan receptions for special arts events. We write letters to the editor and to legislators in support of arts education. We monitor arts integration through site council and PTA. We celebrate our school's achievements, and we work together to meet its challenges. Finally, we revel in the dance, music, and drama performances our children share with us and the community.

So much is going on.