SCHOOL ARTS GET BIG BOOST: $18,000 Grant To Help Local Schools Craft Programs
May 23, 2008
The White Salmon School District recently received an $18,000 grant from the Washington State Arts Commission, to help strengthen and expand its art program in elementary, middle and high schools. This Community Consortium Grant focuses on engaging community resources and interest to support arts education in the schools.
"We're always fired up about art and music here in the mid-Columbia Gorge, but the state budget by itself doesn't give us the funding to provide our students with what we'd like to do. This grant will help us strengthen our curriculum and add excitement to our students' experiences," said Rick George, District Arts Chair.
The grant was the culmination of six months of work and collaboration between the school district, the Arts Team, local PTOs and the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation, which underwrote the costs of art surveys, facilitation and grant writing. With this support, the Arts Team (six visual art and music specialists, as well as middle school principal Rick George) spent last fall assessing their goals, strengths and challenges to make a plan which was defined in the grant to the Arts Commission.
The plan focused on objectives: strengthening the Arts Team and its delivery of arts education to the K-12 curriculum, providing students with more exposure and experience in a wide array of art forms, and further engaging the community in the District's arts program.
"It was an amazing experience," states grant writer Leigh Hancock, who facilitated the process. "Teachers came together as a team, with well-articulated goals, and idea and energy for meeting them. The District was supportive every step of the way, and the Henkle and Whitson PTOs committed large sums for cultural programs next year. Most importantly, the Foundation provided monetary support without which the entire process could not have happened."
Now, of course, the real work begins, as the District moves forward in implementing the activities outlined in the grant. First among these will be hiring an Arts Coordinator, who will facilitate the three strands of the grant. Other steps include arranging trainings for teachers, scheduling work sessions, and planning for residencies and field trips for students.
For more information about the WSVEF, its grants, or to make a donation, go to www.wsvef.org or contact the Parent Teacher Organizations through the school offices.