Seattle Public Schools Arts Newsletter   | December, 2019
December Focus: Arts Integration
This issue includes:
  • Arts Integration PD Series begins in January, 2020
  • Welcome Ashraf Hassan
  • Inaugural Arts Sustainability Funds Report
  • More arts funding opportunities
  • Arts learning opportunities for students and staff
  • Student Arts Showcase Opportunities
Arts Integration in Seattle Public Schools
Arts Integration is core value and goal for all of the The Creative Advantage partners - Seattle Public Schools, City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and our community arts partners. Teachers, teaching artists and arts administrators developed a common definition and standards for arts integration in Seattle:

Definition
Integrated arts learning is an approach to teaching and learning in which students engage in a creative process that connects an art form with another subject to promote deeper learning. This approach leads students to demonstrate an understanding of content-specific objectives in each discipline, as well as an understanding of shared concepts, thinking skills, and the creative process.

Standards
  1. Authentic connections between subject areas that mutually reinforce ideas, concepts, and skills, to promote deeper learning.
  2. Learning processes include the creative process (creating, performing, and responding) and key learning principles (experiential, evolving, collaborative, problem-solving, and reflective).
  3. Learning transcends the initial lesson and is relevant to the students on a personal and cultural level.
  4. Clearly articulated learning objectives and criteria in the arts form(s) and the other content area(s).
  5. Ongoing assessment.
  6. Student understanding is constructed and demonstrated through the artistic process of creating, performing, and responding.
  7. High-quality materials are used.
  8. Terminology from integrated content areas is used correctly.

We are excited to announce a new Arts Integration Professional Development Series that will run January-May, 2020. We are offering courses open to all SPS staff in integrating various arts disciplines into a variety of content areas. The series kicks off on January 14th at Franklin High School.

Courses will include:
  • Visual Arts + STEM for K-5 Educators with Arts Impact (Jan 14th)
  • Ethnic Studies + Theatre of the Oppressed for 6-12 with Rachel Atkins (Jan 14)
  • PK-3 Literacy & Theater with Book-It (TBD Feb)
  • Language Arts/Social Studies + Radio/Podcasting with KUOW RadioActive (TBD Feb)
  • Language Arts/Social Studies + Film with SIFF (TBD Mar)
  • Cultural Representation and Appropriation with Naho Shioya (TBD April)
  • PK-3 Literacy + Visual Arts: Visual Thinking strategies with Seattle Asian Art Museum (May 9)

Registration for the January workshops is open on ESS. Search for "Arts" and note that there are two workshops - one for elementary and one for secondary teachers. There are also a few spots reserved for Creative Advantage Roster teaching artists. Teaching artists can contact Tina LaPadula to reserve a spot.

Here are more details on the January workshops:
Sculpture by Alexander Calder

Arts-Integration: Visual Arts + STEM for K-5 Classrooms

Tuesday, Jan 14, 4:30-7:30 pm Franklin High School

This session is for K-5 classrooms integrating Visual Arts, Science, and Engineering and is led by Arts Impact, a professional development program that trains teachers
to integrate the arts into classroom content such as math, literacy, and science.

In this workshop, teachers learn foundations for arts integration and a lesson called, "Sculpture in Balance". In the lesson, students analyze sculpture and role of sculptor as engineer. They explore paper construction techniques and design, construct, test, and optimize a standing mobile sculpture. Students revise engineering
through use of a wind, drop, and earthquake tests. Last, students
reflect on sculptures in a class sculpture park, and write about how their artistic engineering process reflects a growth mindset.

Teachers receive art kits and a written lesson plan to support implementation.
Ethnic Studies + Theatre of the Oppressed for Middle and High School

Tuesday, Jan 14, 4:30-7:30 pm Franklin High School

This session showcases examples of new, hyper-relevant Ethnic Studies high school
curriculum related to gentrification, redlining and displacement, and is led by Theatre of the Oppressed teaching artist Rachel Atkins and
Jennifer Dunn, SPS Humanities teacher and facilitator for the Center for Racial Equity.

In this workshop, teachers will step into the role of students and experience first-hand the transformative power of exploring content through Theatre of the Oppressed activities. In the lesson, students
research history and current issues around gentrification, redlining, and school/ neighborhood segregation in Seattle, through text, video and
discussion. They then explore their own ideas and learn about other perspectives through the theatre technique of machines: Students choose words and physical gestures to express an aspect of the policies or impact of gentrification. Students collaborate by connecting their words and gestures with others to create a machine to represent their concepts. Students use the same process to imagine potential alternatives, resistance and solutions, to transform the machine into a machine of change, and consider their own role in transformation.

Teachers receive online access to written lesson plans through the
Ethnic Studies program to support implementation.
Welcome Ashraf Hasham to ARTS and The Creative Advantage
Ashraf Hasham joined the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) as the Youth Arts Manager, providing visionary, strategic leadership for ARTS Creative Youth Program team, including The Creative Advantage. Ashraf is a Ballard HS grad who has worked locally at TeenTix and Vera Project.

Funding Opportunities
The Creative Advantage 

Launched in October, the Arts Sustainability funds are a new non-competitive funding source to help schools sustain the student benefits that come from long-lasting arts partnerships.

This year, up to $5000 are available to schools in the  first two Creative Advantage cohorts (24 schools in the Washington, Meany, and Denny K-12 Arts Pathways) and current  Creative Advantage Community Arts Partner Roster members with an agreed upon arts partnership (in-the-school day arts residency or school staff professional development).

In the first application round in October, 17 unique partnerships were funded at 14 schools. These include We.App at West Seattle Elem, visual artist Greg Thornton at Madrona Elem, Jack Straw Cultural center at Denny Middle and Lowell Elem, Big World Breaks at Thurgood Marshall Elem, and Menay and Washington Middle Schools.

Eligible schools that have not yet applies for these funds will have another opportunity in January, 2020.
from the Women's University Club of Seattle

Grants may be used for instructional materials, to purchase equipment, music, instruments; repair instruments, provide coaching, etc. Application deadline: January 13, 2020.
Seattle School Arts Grants
 
Grant ($500 to $1,000) applications will be accepted for projects that bring arts opportunities to Seattle area public school students. 

Applications may be submitted from Oct 1, 2019 until Jan 15th, 2020. Grant recipients will be notified by February 2020. 
Please contact grants@woodlandparkplayers.org for an application
Arts Learning Events for Students and Staff
CHIHULY GARDEN & GLASS FIELD TRIP PROGRAM
In continued support of local arts education, Chihuly Garden and Glass has partnered with Seattle Public Schools to offer FREE admission tickets to the exhibition, transportation and interactive self-guided curriculum. The SPS field trip is available with a completed application, which will be reviewed by a selected committee. Priority is given to schools with 40% or more students on free or reduced-price lunch programs. Date range for field trips is January 2– April 30, 2020.
 
Click this link for more details and to apply.
Student Arts Showcase Opportunities
Regional Arts Festivals
this winter, 2020
The Regional Arts Festivals are an opportunity to celebrate the arts learning taking place in Seattle Public Schools, highlighting visual and performing arts from activated schools in K-12 Creative Advantage Pathways in the Central, Southeast and Southwest K-12 Pathways.

Southwest Festival:
Thursday, February 6th at Chief Sealth High School.

Southeast Festival:
Thursday, March 19th Rainier Beach High School.

Central is TBD.

General format: Festival-style celebrations open to all grades in the school pathway and arts disciplines. While a full slate of performances will happen in an auditorium, there will also be displays, hands-on activities and smaller ensembles or individual performances in other spaces. Adult and student emcees will manage the flow of the evening.

You can be involved by:
  • Bringing students for a 4 minute performance (performances can be choral/singing, instrumental, dance, theatre, spoken word, poetry, story-telling, visual art, projected visual art, short films or documentaries)
  • Bringing students 

Creative Advantage will support with: 
  • Pre-festival planning and prep
  • Day of event logistics + running order
  • Tech and stage management (general mics, lighting and sound) - with support from high school students
  • Parent letter templates
  • Event marketing + communication / flier templates
  • Transportation
  • Stipends for teachers and adult mentors supporting participating youth.

If you would like your students to be celebrated in the Regional Art Festivals or know of students who would be interested in joining the student youth committee please contact our RAF Manager, Masao Yamada, via email at masao.yamada-c@seattle.gov
Show Student Art at University Heights Center
The Art Hub at University Heights Center in the U-District would like to partner with schools to display student art on a rotational basis. If you would like to share your students; art, please contact their Outreach and Program Coordinator, Shirin Subhani.
Resources
As you work to expand the arts in your school community, here are a few websites and people you can look to for help:


The Creative Advantage Page on the SPS website
Resources and tools for arts teams, Creative Advantage news and archived newsletters.

The Community Arts Partner Roster is a vetted list of teaching artists and community arts and culture organizations approved to work in Seattle Public Schools through the Creative Advantage.

The Creative Advantage Website Provides an overview of The Creative Advantage and the value of arts education.

If you can't find what you need on-line, contact the Creative Advantage staff:
 
Audrey Querns -SPS project manager for Creative Advantage (for questions about arts teams and planning, arts partner logistics like contracts and funding)
 
Tina LaPadula - Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Arts Education Manager (for questions about the Arts Partner Roster and working with teaching artists and arts organizations) 

Gail Sehlhorst -SPS Visual and Performing Arts Manager (for questions about arts staffing, curriculum and assessment, and supports for arts teachers)

Ashraf Hasham -Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Youth Arts Manager

Pam Ivezic - SPS Music Specialist (for questions about supports for music teachers and programs)

Masao Yamada - Regional Arts Festival Event Manager (for questions about participating in the 2019-20 Southwest, Southeast or Central Regional Arts Festivals this Winter)