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Cultural Council Awards Grants to Teachers for Arts Education Enrichment Projects
For Immediate Release
Release Date: Saturday, November 11, 2006
CONTACT: Amy Crane, Deputy Director, 358-3600
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. – The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville has awarded Arts Education Enrichment Grants to 12 Duval County public school teachers in an effort to provide expanded arts and cultural programs in the classroom.
Teachers were encouraged to apply for special arts projects that enrich the educational experience for their students. This year the amount of available funds expanded through a grant from Prudential Financial, which was matched by funding provided from the Cultural Council through the sale of Florida “State of the Arts” license tags in Duval County.
There are always more worthy applicants to this grant program than funding available so it’s encouraging to know that our local corporate community sees the value of arts education by helping to fund these grants to teachers,” said Robert Arleigh White, executive director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
“The grants are a testimony to the creativity of our teachers and how they are able to take a relatively small amount of money and make a big impact on their students.”
Grants were awarded to:
Peggy Huber and Melanie Pittman, N.B. Forrest High School ($1,000) “Visual Literacy in Saturday School”
The visual art and English departments collaborate on this project designed to improve literacy in both the written word and visual reading skills through exploration of the graphic novel. Students reading at level I or II will be selected for the Saturday reading program in which this project is embedded. Individually, students will produce a graphically illustrated short story after studying classic short stories and the drawing techniques of contemporary illustrators.
Mary Badillo, Darnell-Cookman Middle School ($410) “Tantalizing Tessellations”
Using math and geometry to create personally designed T-Shirts, 100 eight grade algebra and geometry students will study the “art of tessellations” through the work of M.C. Escher and their own physical exploration of the five different styles of tessellations.
Their exploration and practice will culminate in the production of T-shirts sporting each student’s best design.
Julie LoPresti, West Jacksonville Elementary School ($500) “Arts and Culture of Africa: A Study in the visual arts of Africa with connections to the book, The Journey of the Lost Boys”
All West Jacksonville Elementary students will be directly involved in art making activities such as mask-making and clay work, based on styles and traditions of African art and sculpture. In addition to the technical skills of making the pieces, students will observe and discuss topics such as function’s effect on aesthetic decision-making and the role of the artists in the African societies. The fourth and fifth grades will attend a presentation by author Joan Hecht and one or two of the personalities from her book, The Journey of the Lost Boys of Sudan, a story of courage and faith and the sheer determination to survive by a group of young boys from Sudan.
Lisa Butler and Jay Proctor, Jacksonville Heights Elementary School ($1,000) “Masks, Music and Me: African Culture Experience”
An art and music teacher team up to blend the study of African culture into the third, fourth and fifth grade music and visual art curriculums. In visual art, students will study the significance of the mask to African culture and incorporate the use of texture in textiles as they create their own masks of clay. Music classes will explore the role of the drum to African civilization and traditions. In addition to learning basic skills which strengthen performance in all content areas, students will be encouraged to demonstrate teamwork and create a sense of community. Teachers anticipate that this multicultural experience will be their opportunity to teach discipline, strengthen self esteem, improve concentration and listening skills, and develop creative thinking.
Ann Edgecombe and Melissa Endich, Brentwood Elementary School of the Arts ($1,000) “Schoolhouse Rock Live”
All 292 students at this arts magnet school will participate in this Broadway Junior Production. Arts Specialists and Classroom teachers will collaborate to design lessons for each grade level which directly tie the performance activities to academic standards required for each grade.
Social skills are included as students are required to evaluate their own role as individuals and as a member of the team.
Vivanne Davis and Adrienne Knoble, Saint Claire Evans Academy ($700) “From Dreamer to Achiever: A unit of African American studies through visual art and theatre”
Art teacher and third grade teacher will direct this five-week study of famous historical achievers. After research and study, art activities will include creating a video in which students act out their characters with costumes and props to describe their dreams and accomplishments. They will create collages and create T-shirt designs which illustrate the learning then produce the T-shirts with their designs.
Anne Dix and Bridget Coyne, Brentwood Elementary School of the Arts ($300) “The Singing Coach”
This project will use music software to increase the reading fluency and achievement levels of low-level readers in fourth and fifth grades. The interactive software provided by this program directs student activities which focus on pitch, clarity, expression and fluency in producing sounds and reading lyrics. These skills are critical to reading fluency.
For more information on the Council’s arts education programs, contact the Cultural Council at 358-3600, or at info[at]culturalcouncil.org.
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