Watkins Glen Elementary 

Arts in Education programming 

brings regional school 

stellar recognition!    

Watkins Glen Elementary shares the NYS Creative Ticket Award!

An innovative arts integration program at Watkins Glen Middle School has close ties to the regional and national arts community. “Math, Science and The Arts: A Match Made in Heaven” is an interdisciplinary unit of study on the solar system that is taught to fifth-graders at Watkins Glen Middle School .

The unit covers critical skills in math and science as it relates to the solar system, then allows students to experience it from a different perspective using the arts. As part of the unit, students learned about each of the planets, and then worked with Composer Glenn McClure to write music that expresses their characteristics.

In addition, Darren Stevens of Push Theatre worked with students to choreograph a dance showing man’s understanding of the solar system as impacted by Galileo when we moved from a geocentric to a heliocentric model of the universe.

The music composed by McClure and the students is part of the “The Galileo Project” which connects three US schools, two European schools, three US universities, and Dava Sobel, (author of the best-selling book Galileo’s Daughter) through web-based applications and video conferencing.

In addition to his work with students, McClure also composed the Starry Messenger Oratorio, a work that presents the life of Galileo. McClure drew his inspiration for his work from Sobel’s book. McClure recently appeared with Sobel in Rochester to discuss the book and his symphony.

An interview with McClure about his work in schools and the arts community aired on National Public Radio on May 20. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5420134

“We’re very connected to the arts community,” said Marty Evans, instructional support teacher for Watkins Glen schools. “Our students are working with famous composers and performers. We’re fortunate to be learning from the best there is.”

May 17, 2006

WGES receives state arts award

Watkins Glen Elementary School recently received the state Creative Ticket Award from the New York State Alliance for Arts in Education (NYSAAE) for its arts program. By receiving this award, the school is nominated for the National Creative Ticket Award.

In a letter to Principal Rodney Weeden , NYSAAE Executive Director Amy Williams said, “The panel was extremely impressed by your school’s commitment to building a creative learning community in which students thrive academically.”

NYSAAE officials will present the state-level award to the school during its open house in the fall. Winners of the national Creative Ticket Award will be announced during the summer.

Watkins Glen Elementary School’s arts program was established almost a decade ago. Currently, students learn the fundamentals of the arts in regular art and music classes. These skills are taken a step further when they are integrated into classroom instruction and curriculum units. The district-wide arts theme is, “The Arts, the Voice Inside Me.” Each grade level at the Elementary School explores a portion of that voice, including storytelling, music, visual arts and performance.

Every year at each grade level, artists-in-residence enhance instruction for students and share their skills with teachers. Through ArtPeace, an arts organization that provides funding for the program, and an in-house instructional support teacher, the Watkins Glen School District provides regular staff development for teachers in best practices for teaching through the arts.

http://www.espartsed.org/granted_partnerships/partnership.php?id=8

One of the driving forces behind the arts programming at Watkins Glen is Marty Evans.

“We’re very connected to the arts community,” said Marty Evans, instructional support teacher for Watkins Glen schools. “Our students are working with famous composers and performers. We’re fortunate to be learning from the best there is.”  

(from an interview that took place a few years ago)

I years as an Instructional Support Teacher in Grades 5-12.   About 7 years ago, I started helping  the Elem. School apply for arts grants through the Arts to of the Southern Finger Lakes--and I have expanded that endeavor to all 3 of our buildings in the last few years.  We now have Cultural Arts Programming in Grades Pre K-12.  Currently,  she holds 2 other positions with the District:  Cultural Art Chairman K-12 and the Comprehensive School Reform Grant Coordinator for the MS.  The CSRD grant requires a researched based model and our school chose a model from the Galef Institute in California called "Different Ways of Knowing."  This model uses the arts as a motivational tool for students' learning and achievement.  So I guess my professional life is like a tree that keeps branching and branching--one solid base and growth that has taken on a life of its own.  I've looked back and it seems incredible how this has all woven together. 
 
As the Instructional Support Teacher, my own job became a lot easier when we could all talk about student centered learning and student engagement in the learning process, because the Arts does this so naturally.  
 

hard work put in by the grade level and dept. reps on the Cultural Arts Committee, many have been on the committee since it’s inception 10 years ago. 

Wendy Dean: Kindergarten

Wendy Grinolds: 1st grade

Melinda Robinson: 2nd grade (she and I have bounced the Coordinators position back and forth between us for years)

Shelly Kleist: 3rd grade

Claudia LaFace and Judy VanSkiver: 4th grade

Matt Craig: Music

Sue Comstock: Art

Kathy Gillette: Library

Volunteer Coordinator: currently Shari Davis

     

all arts integrated curriculum K-5 has been mapped using a web based tool call "Mapster" modeled after Heidi Hayes Jacobs' research on mapping of educational curriculum reviewed and renewed piloted projects in every grade level K-5 teaching artists included: 

 

Candace Wolf; 

Kenneth (Tiny) Glover; 

Paul Stillman; 

 

 

 

 

 

PUSH Physical Theatre (Darren & Heather Stevens, Tom Ohl); 

 

 

Corning Museum of Glass glassblowers creating student designed planets of our solar system, Paul Stillman's interactive reinactment of Galileo, and PUSH Physical Theatre working with students to form the heliocentric and geocentric concepts of the universe. This project was also presented at the year's Common Ground Conference in Rochester. The Watkins Glen Elementary School was the receipient of this year's Creative Ticket Award Recognition by the NYAAE and their application has now been forwarded to the national competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC

 

 

They, along with PS 315 have submitted videos about how they incorporate arts into their regular education practice. These tapes or DVD’s will be reviewed between now and mid summer. By the beginning of the new school year, Watkins Glen should know if they were selected as national finalists. If so, they will send a group of students to perform at the Kennedy Center in October. The NYSAAE will come to the school to present a plaque in recognition of their achievements regardless of a national title. This award will be given at the end of September. Principal of the Watkins Elementary, Rodney Weeden, is planning an open house night at their school near the end of the month in September. Below are some examples of press pertaining to Watkins Glen achievement. 

For more,  see

www.gstbocesartsineducation.blogspot.com

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