Testimonial #10: Holly Stanford, Theater Education Practitioner

How has your life been indelibly touched by a teacher who utilized the arts for whatever reason and acknowledge how they were instrumental in breaking the mold to allow you to become who you are today?

I was greatly influenced by an English teacher in my high school. She took on the school drama club and invested 100% of herself into the process, allowing herself to make discoveries along with us, and treating theatre as a mechanism for not only learning, but for us to discover confidence and self-worth.

Before I became involved in the arts, I was a shell of myself- introverted and lacking confidence emotionally and socially. This teacher witnessed my demeanor change as I threw myself into the roles I played and encouraged me to stay with the arts- that I "could be a pro". Now, although I have not become a fully-fledged professional in theatre, her vote of confidence in my abilities drove me to study the art intensively in college and then in graduate school where I trained to teach students, and to encourage them the same way I had.

It only took one teacher's use of the arts to change the entire trajectory of my life, and I am so glad she did. I have met so many more amazing teachers and professors of theatre since then, and have learned more from my involvement in the arts than in any other school of thought.

How are the arts re-igniting your community and sparking innovation and creativity in your local schools?

When I came home on a summer break from graduate school in New York City I worked tirelessly to give high school students across the region the same option that younger students had. It was unfortunate that at 14 or 15, you aged out of the arts- I remember feeling so sad after my final year of the children's theatre group. After developing a pilot program over a few months prior to summer 2011, and working alongside a local prevention agency known as Mountain View Prevention Service, Inc., we had a plan, the funding and a cast of students from seven area high schools.

Every part of this summer production was like magic- the students were excited, hard working and wonderful, and the great network of local organizations that provided both financial and moral support was heart-warming. I am so glad that there has been a growing appreciation for the arts in our community since this summer. Students who lacked confidence in their own school productions were able to shine for the first time. I recently revisited one of the participating schools and many of the students who had participated in the summer program were up on stage again! It's amazing to witness their growing confidence and the willingness of educators in the school to support the arts, and the desires of students to be involved in theatre.

I do hope that the high school program pilot I worked to create will be offered again for future seasons. The program is wonderful for students, especially teenagers to have a positive and constructive activity to commit to while school is out of session. It is also my desire for area schools to consider the value of theatre alongside other art forms in their school budget- if more schools could offer not only plays, but holistic theatre education for students; I feel that it could only further enhance the student experience both socially and academically. Theatre teaches valuable and realistic lessons in communication, dealing with various types of personalities, working on a budget, how to lead and follow in group situations, learning how to deal with the hand you were dealt, and good old fashioned hard work and how it will eventually lead to something great.

With an ever changing society, isn't it important for us to instill these very important lessons into our youth? Theatre is so much more than an extra-curricular activity. I would not be the same without it, and the teens in our community are begging for the chance to be a part of something so much greater than test scores and the occasional school play.

Arts education program boosts reading scores

SAN MARCOS: Arts education program boosts reading scores
.By DEBORAH SULLIVAN BRENNAN dbrennan@nctimes.com | Posted: Thursday, February 9, 2012 7:00 pm.

Thousands of North County schoolchildren showed an "astonishing" jump in test scores after their teachers used the arts in reading lessons, officials announced Thursday. In a pilot program involving 3,000 third- and fourth-graders, test scores improved at triple the rate of similar students using the standard curricula. Those in the "DREAM" program learned reading through lessons involving theater, puppetry and painting ---- and improved their reading scores by 87 points, education officials announced at a news conference.  "Art has the power to inspire, inform, and obviously the results of DREAM show that art has the power to educate," Cal State San Marcos President Karen Haynes said.

DREAM ---- Developing Reading Education through Arts Methods ---- is a four-year program of the San Diego County Office of Education, the North County Professional Development Federation and the Center ARTES of Cal State San Marcos.  Through the program, teachers participated in a weeklong arts integration training sessions and were assigned to one of three groups. A control group did not employ arts in reading lessons. A second group added the arts lessons, while a third group did so with in-class coaching by arts educators.

Kids in the control group raised reading scores by 25 points, officials said. Those whose teachers taught arts integration on their own brought up test scores by 42 points. And the group in which teachers received coaching increased reading scores by 87 points.

Merryl Goldberg, chairwoman of the visual and performing arts department at the university, said the results show that arts education contributes to attainment of academic standards, rather than distracting from them.

"We use arts in such a way that it's a tool," she said. "It doesn't take away from the curriculum at all. The arts teach creative thinking, innovative thinking, critical thinking. These are skills that are fundamental to what we need for the 21 st century."

Integrating movement, music and visual arts into reading lessons allows kids to employ more senses and improve their comprehension of literature, said Laurie Stowell, a professor of literacy education at the university.  "Arts are simply another way we make sense of the world, and how we make meaning," she said. "That's what reading and writing is." At the news conference, fourth-graders from the Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts swayed to jazz music while displaying hand-lettered poster boards emblazoned with single words.  Smooth, beautiful, peaceful, love," proclaimed the signs for a smooth jazz selection.

"Explosive, blast, dynamite, grenade," announced signs for a rhythm and blues piece.

Their teacher, Hector Deleon, said the multimedia lesson reinforced the meaning of vocabulary words, and improved reading comprehension.  "Instead of having kids memorize stuff and spit it out, we're having them take ownership of the word, and experiencing the words with music and movement," he said.  His student, Ariana Castillo, 9, said the lessons erase her self-doubts about learning.  "It just makes me forget about all the voices in my head that say 'You're not good for anything,'" she said. "I just believe in myself."

How have arts inclusion programs been utilized in your school district  to improve students' in reading? other subject areas?

You Gotta Have HeART!

Photo credit Sherrie Nickol Citizen People

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you to all those whose hearts are for The Arts!

Send Fran a Valentine. We know there's a drama, art, music, dance, classroom teacher who changed your life. Within EACH and EVERY human being lies an artistic soul waiting to be sparked: it makes no difference where you're from or what your economic status.

The Arts Rejuvenate, The Arts Restore. The Arts are our supernatural gift.

It is the force that unites us as a single, breathing, living entity that connects every human being to be all that is good and pure.

Send me your valentine testimonial.  How your third grade teacher taught you to write your first play, finger paint your fears away on an oily white sheet of paper, dance to the beat of your own drum, strum, blow, sing the lyrics that express your point of view.  Move an audience so deeply that they all get goose bumps!(Search for Signs of Intelligent Life).