When we devise arts programs, we're careful that they're academically meaningful and support our positive literacy connection. Arts programs also broaden student insights into world culture and customs and provide unique experiences that leave lasting impressions. We believe in bringing the arts to the children and immersion in an arts-rich culture. 

Jason Johnston, principal at Parley Coburn School

For the past five years, we have been actively involved in promoting excellent artist-in-residence programs at Parley Coburn. Arts at Parley Coburn have been a long standing foundation and integrated into curricular studies. The teaching staff at Coburn has been the driving force behind many of the successes achieved through our arts programs.       

Elise Donaldson, vice principal at Parley Coburn School

The thing that both Jason and Elise like best about being administrators is the fact that they have really enjoyed working together this year and one of their first projects together was organizing and working together on the ARTS. One portion of this collaboration is described on the Artists in the News Page featuring the dynamic Australian multi-media artist, Paul Taylor. 

They both agree that the arts are a necessary and vital part of each child’s education.  Elise adds, "At Parley Coburn, we are very proud to bring in quality ARTS of the Southern Finger Lakes grants artist- in- residence programs.  Our teachers have worked closely with students and with each other to create programming which expands wonderful opportunities for discovery while directly impacting rigorous and positive classroom instruction."

Below you can read about the involvement of various teachers and students in the Arts in Education programming at Coburn. All enthusiastically agree that the Arts in Education programming contributes to the vitality and effectiveness of the well-rounded education lucky Coburn students receive. 

I wouldn't want to change a thing for the Arts in Education program for third grade.  We look forward to Paul coming every year!

In addition to Australia, Korey does a lot of other multi-cultural lessons in class.   For instance,  they are now finishing up a unit on Native American culture, so they are creating beads inspired by Native American designs.  In the photo above,  you can see some examples of these beads along with instructions and information about Native American culture.  The next unit will be on Chinese culture,  so they will be doing some Chinese brush paintings in art class. 

I cannot being to describe how Arts in Education programming benefits the students...they can't learn this way through a book!

Mrs. Biggs has been teaching reading for 10 years.  Paul Taylor came the year she was hired.  The art in education program enhances her program "TOTALLY!"  "We do a lot of books with the arts residency.  For instance,  we have tons of books and videos on Australia.  With Paul Taylor,  the interactive DOING hands-on activities bring it home for the kids.  Kids are LIVING it instead of reading about it.  They don't even realize they're learning.  They're just having fun...they think!

A few years ago,  we did a Middle Ages festival for 6th grade with Lorna Czarnota.  This was great too.  They did chain mail.  Kids made vests for the town they lived in. The arts work especially well for intervention kids."

When Paul Taylor comes to teach about Australia,  kids are LIVING it instead of reading about it.  They don't even realize they're learning.  They're just having fun...they think!

Mrs. Biggs with Dakota Z. 

Dakota liked the didgeridoos and learning about Tasmanian Devils the best!

Mrs. Hacket teaches third grade.  "Arts in education definitely enhances our program.  Having artists in residence brings the culture alive.  A book is not as tangible as when someone like Paul Taylor brings hands-on things like boomerangs and didgeridoos to the students.  He excites the children about another culture and about where he's from.  The kids love his accent - they can feel the difference.  He teaches them so many things and shows them a slide show of aboriginal culture.  They see that there's more than one ethnicity there.  He tells the story about how Europeans got there.  He was a really neat guy - cares for the kids and he has good management skills. He's got "teacher sense!"'

Amanda S. liked the didgeridoos and being a "convict" wearing chains and singing.  More about this is described on the 

Artist in the News page. 

Michael S. liked everything, but he liked the didgeridoos best of all!

GST BOCES 

congratulates Paul Taylor,

artist in the news at

Parley Coburn Elementary School

Nationally renowned, multi-media artist, Paul Taylor has been coming to Parley Coburn Elementary School in the Elmira City School District for 10 years.  He recently spent 6 days there in a multi-arts program involving all the 3rd grade teachers and art and music teachers.  Students (the "humpback whales,"the "rock wallabies" and the "emus," that is) were totally immersed in Australian culture through the arts and music of Australia. To quote Carolyn Evershed, third grade teacher,  "Paul Taylor brings Australia to Elmira!"  It is all about total immersion in a culture as opposed to learning solely from a textbook. Students learned about the history, geography, food, holidays and traditions of the aboriginal Australian culture as well as the Europeans who later settled there.  

These students in the picture above, in chains, represent the earliest  European settlers of Australia. They are in chains because they were prisoners forced away from their homes in  England - often for the pettiest of misdemeanors.  They were sent to Botney Bay where they built the city of Sydney.  Here Paul demands the convicts to "Get to work!."  All this happened around the time of the American war of Independence.  They would never see their native home of England again. 

A wombat is one of the many curious creatures who live in Australia.  This imposing animal is a *marsupial, approximately three feet in length with just a tiny stub for a tail. They have short legs, but are very muscular. Wombats use their rodent-like teeth and powerful legs to dig complex burrow systems.  They are herbivorous, however, subsisting on grasses, sedges and roots. While they generally move very slowly,  they can reach speeds up to 20 miles per hour when charging. Moreover, they can leave very serious wounds in the flesh of human-beings they regard as a threat.  

Marsupials are the group of mammals commonly thought of as pouched mammals. They give live birth, but they do not have long gestation times like placental animals.  Instead, they give birth very early and the young animal, essentially a helpless embryo, climbs from the mother's birth canal to a "pouch" where it nurses its mother and continues to develop, often for weeks or months depending on the species. Other famous marsupials of Australia include the kangaroo, the wallaby, the koala bear, possums and gliders, and even carnivorous marsupials such as the tasmanian devil, numbats and bandicoots and bilbies. 

Arts in Education Specialist