April is Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month in California, and the theme this year is The Arts Work. I would encourage you to use this month to consider and share with your community how the arts heal, build community, create jobs, advance justice, and empower youth.
Californians for the Arts has events and resources to help you celebrate this month. You can also utilize the Arts Empower San Diego media toolkit which includes a weekly set of social media posts, as well as a short paragraph supporting arts education for newsletters and other forms of communication posted at the start of each month. Share the social media posts using #ArtsEmpowerSD and #theArtsMatter, and encourage your community to do the same! For more information about supporting arts education in your community, contact Pauline Crooks.
If you are looking for additional resources and ideas, I encourage you to continue reading this newsletter, utilize the new California Arts Education Framework, and connect with me (@PCrooks_VAPA) and others passionate about arts education on our weekly #CaArtsEdChat chats every Wednesday beginning at 5 p.m. This month the chat has changed to a slow chat. We share one question at the top of each hour from 5 to 8 p.m. in order to give participants more time to respond and interact. Questions for the next week are posted online along with details on how you can join the conversation.
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VAPA Coordinator, San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE)
858-295-8881
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California Arts Education Framework
New resources are available for you to learn about the purpose and development of the California Arts Education Framework, experience highlights from each of the chapters, and gain an understanding of how the framework assists us in supporting all learners. Whatever our role in the arts education community, this powerful document can guide us in designing and implementing a relevant, student-centered, standards-based arts education for all students. You can find videos, infographics, handouts, and slide decks by visiting the CalArtsEd Framework website. The new Arts Education Framework document can be found on the California Department of Education website.
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Introduction to Arts Integration
Building an awareness of how to use theatre strategies to integrate arts can activate your curriculum in any content area. Introduction to Arts Integration is a free, online, asynchronous course developed by La Jolla Playhouse to guide educators through a deep understanding of the value of standards-based arts integration, how to develop an ensemble mindset in the classroom, assessment through the arts, and ways to connect community arts organizations to schools. The course includes example lesson plans, teacher testimony, and resources to guide arts integration into standards-based curriculum.
This course was designed through the Kennedy Center Partners in Education partnership between the La Jolla Playhouse, the Chula Vista Elementary School District, and SDCOE with funding provided by the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association Arts Initiative.
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Virtual Networking Lunch and Learn Event
The Arts Education Resource Organization (AERO) lunch and learn networking event on May 6 with Christine Jones, chief of civic art strategies for the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, is open to all arts education community members, teaching artists, and arts non-profit professionals. Learn more about the commission’s vision for supporting art and culture in our city, as well as how local artists and arts organizations can work to support arts education in our community. Spend some time getting to know other AERO members, celebrate the end of the school year, and build connections for future partnerships. Register for the lunch and learn event by May 5. Questions? Email Keri Jhaveri, program manager for Arts Education Connection San Diego.
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Ryan Anthony Music Project
San Diego Winds along with Yamaha is bringing back the educator’s track to the San Diego Summer Music Institute. From July 19-22, some of the top musicians, educators, conductors, and industry professionals from across the country will be at Point Loma Nazarene University to present a wide range of professional development sessions. These sessions include a conducting symposium featuring the 1st Marine Division Band; traditional conference sessions, including headlining sessions by Marcia Neel; and a brand new concept called the teaching lab where attendees will have the opportunity to apply new teaching strategies in concepts in real-time to real students.
There is an amazing lineup of clinicians and presenters that includes Anthony Maiello, Travis Cross, Gary Hill, Marcia Neel, and more! This amazing new partnership with Yamaha, the Ryan Anthony Music Project or RAMP, is only $150. You do not have to pay anything up front to register. San Diego Winds will work with your district to secure funding for your registration.
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La Jolla Playhouse Tech Theatre Intensive for Educators
Join the professionals from the Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse for a fun-filled and action-packed three days of professional learning in technical theatre. This opportunity offers hands-on activities for the new theatre teacher who needs additional support to safely teach tech theatre as a course or the veteran theatre teacher who wants to reacquaint themselves with tech theatre best practices. Your three-day experience will be facilitated by veteran high school theatre teachers and La Jolla Playhouse Teaching Artists Julie Benitez and Kirsten Giard, experienced educators with nearly 60 years of teaching combined. You will also interact with professional artists and technicians working on La Jolla Playhouse productions. For more information, visit the La Jolla Playhouse website.
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Teaching Guitars Workshop
The Teaching Guitars Workshop is in El Cajon June 20-24. If you’re a teacher of band, orchestra, or chorus, or are considering offering a guitar class, Teaching Guitar Workshops, co-sponsored by National Association for Music Education, offers a week-long professional development opportunity to get you started and/or enhance your existing program. Classes are offered in numerous locations and also are being offered virtually.
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Harmony University
Harmony University from July 24-31 in New Orleans offers courses designed specifically for music educators. Gain practical tools for classroom success through courses such as Barbershop for Music Educators for educators who want to learn more about how to use or grow their use of barbershop in the classroom Scholarships for music educators currently working in public or private vocal music education will be given priority to first-time attendees. Applications are reviewed and awarded every week beginning in March. Applications close in June or when all scholarships are awarded. In addition to the full scholarship (which includes registration, room, and board) provided by Barbershop Harmony Society , Pacific Coast Harmony will cover up to $400 for airfare. Please email Paul Girard before applying.
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Supporting Students with Events in Ukraine
Some students may have been following events in Ukraine or have overheard conversations and are curious about the cause and the impacts that this may have both globally and locally. To help students better understand this event and to place it in a broader context, SDCOE has created a guide for educators and families with history-social science, mental health, and social and emotional learning resources. These resources are not meant to be exhaustive, nor are they an endorsement of a particular political viewpoint.
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Arts Education Curriculum Units
Whether you are looking for new units to use with your students, plans to share with a substitute, or curriculum for students in quarantine due to COVID-19, you will want to check out the SDCOE units of study in grades K-12. Focused on grade-level essential learnings in each content area, these units were purposefully designed to integrate content (including the arts), and provide flexibility and choice. These open-source units are available in Google to ensure maximum flexibility for teachers to use them with their district’s preferred instructional platform.
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San Diego Symphony High School Ambassador program
The San Diego Symphony’s High School Ambassadors program is a paid summer internship program for high school students to develop skills for future employment in any field, particularly those in the performing arts. The program includes personal and professional development workshops and job shadowing opportunities culminating in a capstone project. Participants will work as ambassadors for the San Diego Symphony within the community and during the Summer 2022 season at its summer venue, the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park.
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The Valise Project
The Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego is currently offering The Valise Project free of charge to all Title I schools. This is an amazing opportunity for students of all ages to flex their critical thinking muscles and explore art, artists, and concepts before creating art themselves. The project is conducted both virtually and in-person, with coinciding art materials provided by the Institute of Contemporary Art and dropped off at the site before the scheduled project date. The Valise Project currently consists of Real Image by Ruben Ochoa, Field Box by Allison Moritsugu, California Dreamin' by Max Ernst Greis, and American Roadshow by Todd Noe. The project is formulated for a two-hour period, the first consisting of the chosen valise lesson plan including student-led discussions and exploration, with the second being an art-making activity where students get to make art based on the valise artists chosen theme and method while adding their own personal flare. Some of the teaching staff members are bilingual, greatly increasing the opportunity for students to fully engage in the material. This is a great opportunity to get to know varying forms of what art can be while joining in the creative process.
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Music Education Outreach Program by Musica Vitale
The San Diego-area professional choral ensemble, Musica Vitale, offers its free special music program targeted to middle school and upper elementary students. The program is grant-funded and free to schools. It includes a small group of talented professional singers in person or virtual presenting a personable and interactive music experience. This year, in the spirit of unity, the in-person program, The World's Quilt of Song, will feature international folk songs, sacred chants, and hymns from around the world. For more information, please email Nicole Baller.
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Virtual STEAM Orchestra Concert: Art + Science = Violin
For the first time, the award-winning original educational orchestra program will be recorded and broadcast via YouTube for K-6 students to view safely from their classrooms. Join the Classics Philharmonic Orchestra and Conductor Dana Zimbric in an engaging STEAM concert with special guest Keri Jhaveri from Arts Education Connection San Diego. Be wowed by the history, physics, culture, and versatility of the violin, and learn how art + science = violin. This concert will be filmed at the historic Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego; registration is required.
The 40-minute recording can be viewed at your convenience via YouTube through May 3. For any teachers with problems streaming YouTube in their classroom, the recording will be broadcast via Zoom at 10 a.m. on April 22 and 29.
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Connect Kids With Classical Music
La Jolla Music Society (LJMS) offers schools a variety of free education events to expose students to classical music. The LJMS Discovery Series program for schools allows students to learn about and connect with exciting young artists. The artists currently being highlighted include award-winning pianist Conrad Tao, tap dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher, and bassist and composer Xavier Foley.
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Get up-to-the-minute information about what's happening at SDCOE and in our districts across the county.
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