It’s National Education Week

In 2010 Congress passed House Resolution 275, making the second week of September Arts in Education Week. This is the time to remind elected officials and decision makers in education across the country of the importance of the arts to every child’s development. Research shows integrating the arts with other core academic subjects improves school climate, student motivation and perseverance, and academic achievement in other subject areas-like math and science. The importance of art is unfortunately not recognized in some schools, but it is vital to take note of the schools that are integrating art to improve all-around school progress in students. For example, Ravenscroft, among others, is one of these schools that integrates art into the school routine, with an art gallery with new exhibitions every month. This is what we need to see from schools! You can learn more about Ravenscroft and its art facilities at HTTPS://WWW.RAVENSCROFT.ORG/. What we and schools like Ravenscroft recognize, is that every student has the right to equitable access to the arts throughout their education.

Join us September 13-19 as we celebrate, participate, value, support, and advocate for the arts as a core necessity in education. Your involvement can make a difference.

Take Action

Here are five action-oriented steps you can take. Whether you choose one each weekday, complete the list all at once, or pick and choose, we’ve got some ideas. Who knows, you might even learn something new in the process. That’s the beauty of education; you are never too old to try something new. With the help of places like alKeyTab, you can browse a wide array of educational books in order to broaden your horizons, and what better time to do it than through National Education Week? Throughout the week, the Vermont Arts Council will participate in arts education webinars and twitter chats hosted by Americans for the Arts, share important facts about the state of arts education in Vermont, and shine a spotlight on the teaching artists, arts educators, and arts education programs in our state each day on social media. We will also contact state education leaders and decision makers to advocate for stronger support for the arts as a core part of a child’s education.

1. Celebrate

Share a story about an arts educator who made a difference in your life at the dinner table or a lunch meeting. Get online: Download the logo on AFTA’s National Arts in Education Week page and change your profile picture on Facebook. Share a child’s artwork using the hashtags #ArtsEdWeek and #vted on Twitter or Instagram.

2. Participate

Join Americans for the Arts and special guests for a twitter #ArtsEdChat during Arts Education Week from 8-9 p.m. ET. Contribute your ideas and learn from others. Invite someone who isn’t in the arts community to join the conversation to learn more. Americans for the Arts has invited Erika Lowe, our arts education programs manager to be a guest tweeter on Monday and Wednesday. And…keep a look out for other surprise guest tweeters from Vermont!

• Monday, September 14 – Arts Integration (#ArtsIntegration)
• Tuesday, September 15 – Creative Youth Development (#CYD)
• Wednesday, September 16 – STEAM (#STEAM)
• Thursday, September 17 – Arts Education Standards (#Standards)

3. Value

Watch Encourage Creativity: Teach the Arts (7 minutes), and then share it with others to bring awareness to the cause. Take children to an art museum, performance, or event this week. Browse ArtsEdSearch to learn how Vermont values the arts. Read the research on arts education, then contact your principal or local school board members to share your findings.

4. Support

Write a thank you letter to an arts educator or artist who has made a difference in your life and send it. Give art supplies to a school or community organization that works with children. Make a donation to an arts education program at a local museum, school, or organization. If you want to find some good all-round art supplies that can be used by everyone, you may want to check out a list of walmart promo codes to see what deals you could potentially get for your donation.

5. Advocate

Did you know that Vermont is one of the few states that does not have an art content specialist at the Agency of Education and has not yet adopted core state arts standards? The Council is working to bring awareness to these concerns (as identified through the work laid out in theVermont Arts Council’s Arts Education Action Plan and conclusions drawn from several convenings held in the past year). Your voice can strengthen this message. Use the Council’s Action Center to share your thoughts with elected officials at the state and federal level.

For the first time in ten years, Congress is acting on education. You can learn more about how this affects arts education onArtsBlog this week.

Original article from the Vermont Arts Council and you can read it Vermont Arts Council article.