Alameda County Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership » Arts Active Parent

ARTS ACTIVE PARENT
March 1, 2007 Volume 2, Issue 7
Monthly Newsletter of the Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership
Alameda County Office of Education Sheila Jordan, Superintendent

Dear Alameda County Parents,

In our community, Art IS Education Month has gotten so big that it spills out both ends and is rapidly making Art IS Education a year-round festivity! If you don't believe me, click on the "events" button on our website and read the list. (And by the way, if your school, district, or arts organization isn't listing your events there, start today! It's a free and effective way to spread the word about what you have coming up, courtesy of the Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership.)

Even though we can't contain our arts events into just one month, March does have a special connotation for arts learning advocates in Alameda County. March is when our Art IS Education programs first started 8 years ago, and the month when we usually begin new advocacy projects. March is also National Arts Education Month as well as Music in Our Schools Month. (info) When we attend performances and exhibits at our kids' schools we can feel that we are taking part in a national event, and joining a national movement to restore creative education as a high value in our public schools.

March is also an excellent time to get involved in supporting arts programs at your children's school. If your school is planning an event, see how you can help. If there's no event planned, get together with the other Arts Active Parents at your school and see how you can support a teacher or teachers as they organize one. We provide lots of materials to help you along your way, from customizable posters to toolkits that walk you through the whole process of creating an event or program. We've tried to supply a lot of useful materials so you can concentrate on community-building instead of figuring out the details of what should be in every form you create, and who to ask about what. To see a list of what's available, visit http://www.artiseducation.org/artised/present.html.

I hope to see many of you at our Saturday morning workshop this week (see all the details in the box below). If you haven't already, RSVP right away! I think you'll find this event to be interesting and packed with useful information, as well as a chance to meet like-minded parents from schools and districts other than your own.
-KATHY KAHN

VOLUNTEER CALL FOR
SATURDAY MORNING MARCH 3:
We are also looking for volunteers (adult and teen) to assist an artist in art-making with the kids during the adult sessions, and a couple of volunteers to help with general organization that day. (here

Be Part of the Social Movement to
Bring Arts Back to All Our Schools
FREE Public Meeting & Workshop
Saturday, March 3 • 9:30-12:00
Arts Active Parent Leadership Council & Friends
ASCEND School • 3709 E 12th St., Oakland
(a block from the Fruitvale BART Station)

Photo above is from our Arts Active Parent
community meeting November 30.

Everyone welcome! Parents, grandparents, educators, friends, neighbors, and community members. If you believe that all our kids need arts learning to develop into better citizens, we want you to be part of this conversation.

• ENJOY a free "mini film festival": 3 or 4 short films about arts learning, all made in Oakland!
• CHOOSE a topic of interest and take part in a small group discussion. Here are topics planned as of this newsletter.
1) SPREADING PUBLIC VALUE: USING THE ARTS ACTIVE PARENT BELIEF STATEMENT TO IMPROVE OUR SCHOOLS (facilitated by Sabrina Klein, Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership and Creative Education Consulting)
2) WHAT DOES ARTS INTEGRATION LOOK LIKE AND HOW CAN I BRING IT TO MY SCHOOL? (facilitated by Louise Music, Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator and Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership Director, Alameda County Office of Education)
3) WHAT DO PARENTS NEED TO KNOW TO SUPPORT ARTS LEARNING AND BECOME POWERFUL ARTS EDUCATION ADVOCATES? (facilitated by Kathy Kahn, Arts Active Parent Coordinator, and Amana Harris, Director, ArtEsteem at the Attitudinal Healing Connection)

RSVP to Kathy Kahn, aparents@artiseducation.org or artsactiveparent@yahoo.com
Please let us know
1- how many will be attending
2- if you will be bringing children (we will provide supervised art-making for kids while their parents are in small group conversations)
3- which of the topics to the right interests you the most, so we can plan materials for breakout conversations.

PARENTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
PIEDMONT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Piedmont, with only 6 public K-12 schools, is one of the smaller districts in Alameda County. Parents in Piedmont have created a cross-school organization called PAINTS that supports all six schools with grants and events. PAINTS is a non-profit membership organization of parents and community members whose mission is to promote visual arts in the Piedmont schools. They provide a forum for the district to plan coordinated visual arts curriculum in different schools, and also award grants to classroom teachers and arts specialists. Pictured here is their annual Chalk Art Festival. This is a clever fundraiser and community building event which any school could duplicate. Squares are marked on a paved schoolyard or parking lot, and children "purchase" them for $5 or $10, depending on the size. Then they and their families create a work of art in the square, using sidewalk chalk. At the PAINTS event, the Piedmont Dads' Club hosts a pancake breakfast for further fundraising. The organization makes a little money which can be put into art programs, and the whole community gets the fun of coming out on a sunny Saturday to create art and admire the art that others create.
(Photo courtesy of PAINTS.)

FREE AND INEXPENSIVE ARTS ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES IN MARCH
These are only a small portion of the events this month.
For more events, more details about these events, and links to other websites, visit our events page
http://www.artiseducation.org/prg/events.asp

FREE San Leandro Student Art Exhibit
March 1-30, 10 am - 4 pm, San Leandro Public Library (Bancroft Middle School).
Also
FREE Annual Advanced Placement Studio Art Show
March 2-31, San Leandro City Gallery & Museum, Artist Reception 6 to 8 pm MARCH 2
Also
FREE San Leandro Choral Pops Concert
March 8, 7:30pm, M-1, SLHS

FREE Piedmont High School Student Art Exhibit
March 1-31, business hours daily and weekends
Gaylord's Caffe Espresso 4150 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland

INEXPENSIVE 4th Annual Dance IS Festival
March 2 & 3, 8 p.m.
Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., Berkeley
Tickets $10, or $5 for students/seniors/disabled
http://www.danceisfestival.org

INEXPENSIVE 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change
Exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California through April 22
Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland
See museum website for admission prices, free days, and special family programs.
http://www.museumca.org/exhibit/exhi_100_families.html

(Photos are families who participated in the 100 FAMILIES PROJECT. Photos courtesy of California College of the Arts' Center for Art and Public Life.)

FREE Arts Learning: A New Vision for Our Schools
Exhibit through 3-31/07
Alameda County Administration Building 1221 Oak Street
Exhibition of images and artwork from Alameda County Arts Learning Anchor Schools
http://center.cca.edu/calendar/view/1341

INEXPENSIVE An Evening with the Young Divas
March 3, 7 p.m., First Unitarian Church of Oakland
Oakland Youth Chorus' showcase
http://www.oaklandyouthchorus.org/

FREE Exhibit : The Art in Open Court - Making Connections
March 5-30, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Museum of Children's Art gallery 538 Ninth Street, Suite 210
MOCHA/OUSD Kindergarten art project, http://www.mocha.org/

FREE Art IS Education in Emeryville 2007
March 6, 3:15 p.m., Emeryville City Hall front steps
A community parade, performance of EUSD musicians and dancers, and a reception and art show. Exhibit remains through March.

FREE YourStories: Interactive Performance for All Ages
March 7, 3:30 PM
Cesar Chavez Branch Library, 3301 E. 12th St, Oakland
Based on Jonathan Fox' Playback Theater, Opera Piccola presents improvisatory theater in an intimate library setting, for all ages. Audience members have a chance to share words and short stories from their own lives and see them transformed into theater, song and dance on the spot.
http://www.opera-piccola.org/

FREE Art is Education Exhibition
March 7, 4:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m
Hayward Unified School District Office, 24411 Amador Street, Hayward
Celebrate the work of Hayward students at the annual Visual and Performing Arts Exhibition

FREE Habitot's Persian New Year (Norooz)
March 10, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Habitot Children's Museum, 2056 Kittredge Street, BerkeleyFREE movie screening of the animated movie, "Babak & Friends - A First Norooz", dancers, storytellers, and artists will engage children and families in Persian New Year traditions. Check website for schedule.
www.habitot.org

FREE BUSD CONCERTS
-All School Chorale, March 8, 7 p.m. Malcolm X School Theater
-Chamber Concert, March 12, 7 p.m., Longfellow Middle School
-Orchestra Concert, March 13, 7 p.m. King Middle School
-I Am a Performer, March 13 Washington School & March15 Cragmont School, 8:20 & 9:50 (students perform with Berkeley Symphony Orchestra)
-Performing Arts Showcase, March 25, 1 p.m., Berkeley Community Theater

FREE OUSD Orchestra Festival with Michael Morgan
March 6, Public performance 7 p.m., Farnsworth Theater at Skyline High
In this annual event, orchestras from a number of middle and high schools in Oakland come together for a shared performance. Each group performs separately, and then all play together in a 200+ member orchestra conducted by Oakland East Bay Symphony Maestro Michael Morgan. This is a great event for music lovers of all ages, and a wonderful opportunity to introduce elementary school aged children to the idea of playing in an orchestra when they're older. The photo shows the Combined OUSD Orchestra in 2006. This year's schools include Bret Harte, Claremont, Edna Brewer, Montera, Roosevelt, and Westlake Middle Schools, and Skyline and Oakland High Schools.

FREE Artwork Unveiling and Artist Reception at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center
March 10, 2:00-4:00PM
This event is a special opportunity for the public to view artworks that were created especially for youth, their families and visitors at the new Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center. After the facility opens in April 2007, public access will be limited.

FREE Emeryville Being Alive: scenes & poems by 7th Grade students
March 12, 6:30 PM
Emery Secondary School Theater 1100 47th Street
Opera Piccola helps to make student learning visible in a short presentation for parents and community.

INEXPENSIVE Skyline H.S. Jazz Band Performs at Yoshi's Jazz Club
March 12, 8:00pm and 10:00pm (two shows)
Yoshi's Jazz Club Jack London Square
Tickets $10, reserve in advance: Skyline Music Dept (510) 879-3060, skylineseats@yahoo.com
Skyline High School Jazz Band's benefit performances to send the band to the Reno Jazz Festival.

INEXPENSIVE Showcase 2007 "Harmonize Our World"
March 16, 7 p.m., Harbor Light, 4760 Thornton Ave., Fremont
Tickets $5, children under 5 free
Music For Minors II's annual show features 250 children from 3 school districts.

FREE San Leandro Unified School District Band Festival
March 22, 7 p.m., SLHS Gym
Over 550 music students grades 5-12.
Also
SLUSD String Orchestra Festival
March 29, 7 p.m., Bancroft Middle School Gym

INEXPENSIVE RUMPELSTILTSKIN
March 24 & 31, 10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
James Moore Theatre, The Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak Street, Oakland
Tickets $7 ($1 discount for 5 or more), children 2 and younger free
A musical retelling of the classic folk tale about a miller's daughter and a little elf-like man who can spin straw into gold. This tale weaves themes of social acceptance, love and forgiveness with raucous high comedy, clever wordplay and instantly hummable tunes.
http://www.childrens-theatre.org/

FREE Pleasanton Festival of the Arts 2007
March 30-April 5, 8:00 - 2:00 or by appointment
Multi-purpose room foyer, 4375 Foothill Road
An artist reception will be held April 1st, from 6:00-8:00pm
Awards will be given at 7:00pm.

ALAMEDA COUNTY ALLIANCE FOR ARTS LEARNING LEADERSHIP

The 8-year old Alliance has attracted much funding and attention to Alameda County, and has united schools and school districts, colleges and universities, arts organizations and teaching artists, parents and community, and business and service organizations, to help expand arts learning experiences to grow strong communities, schools and students.

For information about the Alameda County Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, how it supports arts education in public schools, and how to get involved, visit www.artiseducation.org.
If you know of people who would be interested in receiving this newsletter, please ask them to send me their email addresses.

We gratefully acknowledge the Walter and Elise Haas Fund for sponsoring the Arts Learning Parent Involvement Project to create stronger ties between homes and schools around the arts.

Kathy Kahn, Arts Active Parent Coordinator
Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership
Alameda County Office of Education
artsactiveparents@artiseducation.org

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