ARTS ACTIVE PARENT
October 1, 2006 Volume 2, Issue 2
Monthly Newsletter of the Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership
Alameda County Office of
Education Sheila Jordan, Superintendent |
| Dear Alameda County Parents,
Our voices have been heard in California
and the result is unprecedented new funding for arts education.
As more information becomes available about how this program
will be implemented, I will report it in this newsletter.
This year you’ll have the opportunity to attend a
parent conference about arts education as well as a series
of four free Public Forums where you can hear from experts
in the field about the work that’s being done to improve
and promote arts education, and what that may mean for our
children and our schools. The first Forum will be the evening
of November 9. I hope you will mark it
on your calendar, and details will follow here and at www.artiseducation.org.
We need the arts in all
our classrooms and communities to provide every child with
a high quality education that develops well-rounded individuals
prepared for a future that is good for everybody. In Alameda
County, we’re a little ahead of many places in terms
of the value our community already places on arts in our
schools, and our momentum is growing. By working together,
we really can achieve our shared vision of a high quality
education for every child, in every school, every day.
BE
A VOICE FOR
BETTER EDUCATION
There is an election coming up, and one of the most important
things you can do for your children is to vote in an educated
and responsible way. Check your local ballot for issues
that will affect the schools, and spend some time learning
the facts and imagining the outcomes before you fill in
your ballot. Ask candidates about what they’ve done
for schools and for arts education for all children.
Everyone is welcome to attend the PLAN Parent Action
Forum!
ELECTION 2006: WHAT’S AT STAKE
FOR FAMILIES?
Saturday, October 28th, 9am-1pm
First Unitarian Church of Oakland – 685 14th Street
Join Bay Area PARENTS to get informed and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
For more information, call 510-444-7526 (444-PLAN)
email: info@parentactionnet.org
In
Berkeley, Arts Active Parents are mobilizing the community
for Measure A, which seeks to renew existing funding and
assure continued music, dance, drama, and visual arts in
schools, as well as libraries, reduced class sizes, and
more. For more information, visit www.BerkeleyMeasureA.org.
|
PARENTS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Peralta Elementary
Alum
parent (and artist in residence) Ellen Oppenheimer (center),
shows California Arts Council Director Muriel Johnson (right)
the garden at Peralta Elementary School in Oakland. In the
background are principal Rosette Costello and artist Lauren
Elder.
| Enter
Peralta Elementary School in Oakland,
and you’re instantly plunged into a lively, stimulating
environment with light and rhythm, artwork everywhere,
and a thriving garden tended by thriving students. Peralta
is an Oakland Arts Learning Anchor School for a second
year, but the commitment of the administration and staff
to arts education goes back many years. The entire Peralta
community’s belief in the role of arts in educating
the whole child has led to a rich variety of arts programs
and arts integration, including music for all grades,
the school’s signature quilting projects, the
school garden, murals, and much more. Parent and community
support at Peralta is an integral part of Peralta’s
success. Peralta parents comprise an active community
that collaborates with staff as partners in creating
a healthy, safe and stimulating school environment,
in planning school festivals and celebrations, in participating
in the school mentoring project, and in fundraising
to help support music and art as well as a variety of
other programs. Peralta’s success was recently
applauded in a congratulatory school visit by Muriel
Johnson, Director of the California Arts Council.
|
The
garden at Peralta Elementary School is a learning
environment, a soothing environment, and a source
of great pride for the young gardeners and artists
who go to school there. |
|
| ART
IN OPEN COURT?
MOCHA (Museum of Children's Art) is offering a program for
elementary school teachers called "Making Connections:
Art in Open Court." The program trains teachers in
how to deliver quality art instruction to their students
while reinforcing the themes of the district-mandated Open
Court reading curriculum. This photo shows Kindergarten
teachers, the first level to be trained, in an August workshop.
This is a good example of how schools that are struggling
with test scores can still provide arts instruction that
engages all their students. Is there creative arts integration
in other core subject classes at your school?
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| FREE AND INEXPENSIVE THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR KIDS IN OCTOBER |
FREE- "Sundays in the Redwoods" A free
concert series at Oakland’s Woodminster Amphitheater,
sponsored by the Office of Parks and Recreation and City
Councilmember Jean Quan. The last performance of the 2006
series.
Sunday, October 8 - Sounds of Gospel 3-7 p.m., Joaquin Miller
Park, 3300 Joaquin Miller Blvd., Oakland ($4 parking fee
for parking lots)
www.oaklandnet.com/parks/news/events_0906.asp?sItm=4
FREE- “Potluck Preview” at Skyline High School.
This informal potluck dinner (6 p.m.) and performance (7
p.m.) is an annual event for the Skyline Performing Arts
Academy. Each performance group gives a short sample of
what they’re working on. This is not a formal performance,
but is a fun evening for middle schoolers who are considering
Skyline as well as anyone who enjoys student performance.
Dance, drama, vocal and instrumental music.
Wednesday, October 4 – Free performance starts at
7 p.m. in the Rawley T. Farnsworth Theater at Skyline High,
12250 Skyline Blvd., Oakland.
FREE – 33rd Annual Black Cowboy Parade
Celebrate the cowboys who helped settle the West , featuring
nationwide cowboys, trick riders and children dressed in
traditional attire.
Saturday, October 7 10 a.m., West Oakland to Downtown. View
parade along the route from DeFremery Park, 1561 Adeline
St. along 14th Street to City Hall. After the parade go
back to DeFremery Park where there will be food, entertainment
and pony rides for children.
http://www.oaklandnet.com/parks/news/events_1006.asp?sItm=1
AFFORDABLE Julia Morgan Center for the Arts has two
bargain matinees on Monday, October 9 at 11:30 and 2 pm.
All tickets $10 (adults and kids).
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad
Day
From Active Arts
For info, call 925-798-1300. Performances at 2640 College
Avenue at Derby, Berkeley.
|
FREE--Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in the Fruitvale District
celebrates the grand opening of new facilities and exhibits
in honor of Indigenous People's Day. Native American dance,
new history exhibits, Ohlone native plant garden, new Grizzly
Bear play area, kids' craft activities, fun with archeology,
music and food.
Sunday, Oct. 15, noon to 5 p.m., corner of Coolidge and
Hyde in Oakland. www.peraltahacienda.org.FREE – ArtWalk
2006, downtown Livermore again becomes an arts district
for a day as local artists display their work in local businesses.
Saturday, October 21, 11-5. First and Second Streets from
N. Livermore Avenue to M Street
http://www.livermoredowntown.com/events/art_walk_auction/
AFFORDABLE -- 13th Annual celebration of Dias de los Muertos
at the Oakland Museum. Days of the Dead displays
created by a number of local artists.
October 11–December 3, 2006, Oakland Museum of California,
1000 Oak St., Oakland
http://www.museumca.org/
HALLOWEEN – if you celebrate Halloween, it’s
a wonderful opportunity to stretch your child’s imagination
by creating a costume together. Help your child express
his or her own unique and creative self!
As always, check your local library for free story times, performances,
and other events. Try to attend all events and performances
at your child’s school, and the schools your child
will attend in the future.
For more arts events, visit http://www.artiseducation.org/prg/events.asp.
|
| ALAMEDA COUNTY ALLIANCE
FOR ARTS LEARNING LEADERSHIP
For information about the Alameda County Alliance for Arts
Learning Leadership, how it supports arts education in public
schools, and how you can get involved, visit www.artiseducation.org. If you're a leader
in a parent group that helps to support arts programs, we
invite you list your group by following the "Post Your
Resources" link.
This newsletter is also produced
in a hardcopy format. I want to provide copies to any parent
group or parent resource center I can. If you have a meeting
coming up, or a place where parent come, please just let
me know how many copies you would like and where and when
I can drop them off.
If you have comments about this newsletter or suggestions
for future content, please reply to this email. We are interested
in hearing from parents of kids all over the county, in
all kinds of schools, about your successes and challenges
in supporting arts learning in your school. If you know
someone who should be receiving this newsletter, please
have them email me.
Very best wishes,
Kathy Kahn, Arts Active Parent Coordinator
Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership
Alameda County Office Of Education
1890 Leimert Blvd., Oakland 94602
510-482-5776
ArtsActiveParents@artiseducation.org
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.
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