Dear Alameda County Parents,

I heard from several of you after the June newsletter. Apparently my memories of childhood summers were evocative for many of you, and you echoed my wish to give our kids some slow-paced, reflective time to stimulate imagination and creative spirit during school vacations.

I grew up in here the San Francisco Bay Area, where according to my midwestern relatives, we have no seasons. But my childhood memories are almost always rooted in the time of year, and my stories are framed by rain or heat, holiday preparations, seasonal music and food and clothes, and the rhythms of school and vacation. Looking back, I also think it's interesting that my memories are also so often connected with making art. I have a visceral memory of sight, sound, and smell connected with those huge wooden easels in my kindergarten classroom, the large sheets of cheap brownish paper thumb-tacked to them, a few colors of paint in cut-off milk cartons along the tray in front, fat brushes, little paint-spotted smocks. I remember performing in my first grade play, writing poetry in the fourth grade, playing and singing in concerts in middle school. Along the way I learned to read and write and calculate as well, but somehow my recollections of those experiences are less clear, my sense memories less vivid.

The fact is, most of the art I created in elementary school was pretty straightforward and not particularly stimulating, usually involving pre-cut construction paper shapes, all the same size, of course, for easier display! My teachers didn't know what we know today about how the brain works and how human beings learn. They instinctively knew, though, that our lives and learning would be enriched if we were given the opportunity to learn in different ways, even if all they knew how to have us make were paper turkeys, paper pumpkins, paper valentines, paper Abraham Lincoln silhouettes, and other paper seasonal icons to liven up the hallway bulletin boards.

Things have changed. At many of our schools, our teachers are receiving training which lets them interweave artistic thinking throughout the curriculum. The phrase "learning in and through the arts" describes an educational environment and process that is student-centered. The work of Howard Gardner surrounding multiple intelligences articulated a concept that great educators have understood for a long time: Different students learn differently, in ways that may or may not be consistent from day to day and subject to subject. Great teachers offer multiple "ways in" to the concepts they want their students to learn. Learning isn't so much a straight one-way road, as a meandering path with surprising twists and turns and unexpected moments of clear view. The arts provide strategies to assure that every child has the opportunity to learn in the way he or she learns best.

Using music to deepen students' understanding of math or history; using collage as a way to visualize diversity; using drama as a way to increase students' understanding of language and psychology: All these are approaches your child's teacher may be using.

What my elementary school teachers instinctively knew - that I would be more engaged and remember something better if I were making art about it - has been and continues to be the subject of much research by Harvard's Project Zero and a number of other respected academic institutions. We now know a lot about many ways that art supports learning; we know, in short, that art IS education!

This year, Arts Active Parents can affect their schools and the broader education system in many ways:
You can encourage your principal and teachers to look at the professional development opportunities available that will support their understanding of how to make arts integration a more powerful force at your school. There are resources to help your teachers create a more memorable learning experience, in other words, instead of just paper pumpkins. If you haven't already seen it, view the short KQED SPARK* segment about ASCEND School in Oakland's Fruitvale district, and how they use arts integration and expeditionary learning to build an engaged student body: http://www.kqed.org/arts/places/spark/profile.jsp?id=922

To learn about Professional Development opportunities for your teachers and principals available through Alameda County, visit
http://www.acoe.org/forms/seminar.asp?Q=2326 (brochure coming soon). Your school district may also offer professional development.

You can find the other Arts Active Parents at your school and work together for powerful change. Each school has its own personality and needs, and your own community knows best what those are. Your school's own chapter of Arts Active Parents may be the right catalyst for anything from curriculum redesign to campus beautification. If you're not sure where to start, or you have a group of parents and you're not sure what to do next, contact me for free advice and brainstorming, and invite me to a meeting with your interested parents!

You can be an advocate for arts programs and arts learning wherever your school community gathers. You can become more knowledgeable and vocal, and you'll find allies wherever you speak up. You can make sure that all your elected officials hear from you about how important this issue is, and you can invite them to come to your school and see for themselves. Coming soon is the first edition of the Arts Active Parent Handbook, which will help you build your advocacy skills. It will be available soon on our website, or email me to request a copy.

Let's make our communication more two way this year. Let me know what you're thinking about and what hurdles you are finding as you work to support arts learning. If you have a "Parents Making a Difference" story and photo about your school, please just send it to me.
Have a great year!
-KATHY KAHN

PARENTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
BERKELEY ARTS MAGNET

August is a time when schools are coming alive again!
At Berkeley Arts Magnet, two different events brought parents to campus in August for campus beautification and community building. A campus cleanup was a general sprucing-up day for the whole school community.
Below, a BAM dad wields a dustpan.

At a special picnic for the incoming kindergarten families, new BAM parents, kids, and staff painted pieces for a mural for the kindergarten playground. Below, some newly-painted pieces dry in the sun, and some picnic-goers get acquainted.

PARENTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
ARTS ACTIVE PARENTS COME TOGETHER

In June, the Arts Active Parent Workshop attracted about 35 attendees from 8 different school districts in Alameda County. Oakland City Council Member Jean Quan was a featured speaker (above), and a panel of 7 parents from different kinds of schools and districts presented information and answered questions about their projects. (Below, Anthony Hall talks about Westlake Middle School, other panelists listening.)