Art in School – Where did it go?

Forward by: Bryan Hughes
Sentinel Writer

It’s no secret that art programs are failing in schools everywhere. Every year the amount of funds allocated for art classes dwindles.  Band students are using instruments from 1985, art classes are given nothing more than a few new sets of colored pencils, and maybe some secondhand paint sets.  It seems that schools are trying to shut out the one program that provides a foundation for expanding intellect, and fostering creativity.  Not only this, but countless studies have proven that students who are exposed to arts and culture perform better in Math and English classes.  It has also been proven that students who attend schools with strong art programs have a higher success rate of getting into good colleges and landing good jobs.
There are hundreds of charities and organizations that have been founded with the sole purpose of saving art programs but very little progress has been made.  In light of this, The Sentinel will be publishing a series of articles that take a look at the condition of our local art programs, and exploring different solutions for helping to save our art programs, as well as how we can bring the arts back to the forefront – not only in our schools, but also in our community.  So what better way to kick this series off than to hear the case right from the people it affects the most – the students!
Meet Will Skelton. Will is a Clay County resident who attends Hayesville High School. He moved to Clay County when he was in 1st grade. Will’s mom recognized the importance of Art and enrolled him into John C. Campbell’s “Little Middle Folk School Week.”  Over the years Will has developed a love for the Arts and aside from being an incredibly talented artist and painter, he also enjoys performing in the high school chorus, and drama program. In fact, Will is so passionate about keeping the Arts in Schools that he has written his senior thesis paper on the subject. He has applied to New York University, Wingate University, Young Harris College, and Western NC University. Written below is Will’s thesis.

Keeping Arts in Schools

By: Will Skelton

Art, it has been used in American school systems for decades. Increasingly though there has been a decline in art being taught in schools. with budget cuts, and a demand for focus on more practical subjects, a person might say that America has forgotten the importance of students expression through art. The main cause of the art programs being cut is the governments pressure
on school systems. More focus on math mean less focus on music. Did the government know that music and math go hand in hand,  or that visual art may improve content and organization of writing? Art has numerous connections to school subjects.
The arts must be kept in schools. They bring life and color to a gray world where students go through the normal boring routine of fractions and dull sessions of writing work. In Terrance Young’s article “Keeping the Arts Alive,” Young explains the importance of art living in U.S. schools. “When budgets are tightened, the school library media specialist and/or the arts programs are often considered expandable. No child left behind legislation means increasing academic time of core subjects, which translates into cutting time for arts education. As money becomes tight, frills are cut (i.e., the arts). Schools do not seem able to fill the financial gaps in arts education, and they often view music and art as extraneous. Teachers can use music and art to help students learn content in the
core-subject areas. Songs, pictures, or stories about oceans, weather, whales etc., can help invigorate these topics and help students retain facts and terminology.  Poetry is often expressed in both art and music. One of the great strengths of the arts is their ability to reach inside us and arouse our creativity. It is important that educators expose students to the connections between music and art and other academic subjects “. ( Young) The author expresses his deep compassion for art programs by explaining how America’s government has forgotten the underlying effects for students. Just because school budgets are being constantly tightened does not mean that the arts has to go first.
Art is defined as the process of arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. Benefits of art can range from many effects. Tamara Henery explains these effects in her article,” Arts Education has an academic effect,” “School children exposed  to drama, music, and dance may do a better job at mastering reading, writing, and math than those who focus solely on academics, says a report by the Arts Education Partnership. The report is based on an of 62 studies of various categories of art-ranging from dance, drama, music and visual arts by nearly 100 researchers. Its the first to combine all the arts and make comparisons with academic achievement performance on the standardized compare tests, improvements in social skills and student motivation. While education in the arts is no magic bullet for what ails many schools, the arts warrant a place in the curriculum because of their intimate ties to most everything we want for our children and schools. The report took two years to produce, with funding from the National Endowments for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education” ( Henery)The benefits shown throughout this article have endless possibilities with types of art including dance, drama, and music.
“The Arts Education Partnership, arguing for the importance of arts in schools says various art forms benefit in different ways: Music improves math achievement and proficiency in reading and cognitive development; Boosts SR verbal scores and skills for second-language learners. Dance helps with creative thinking, originality, elaboration and flexibility; improves expressive skills, social tolerance, self confidence and persistence,” ( Henery). Henery’s article reflects on the importance of keeping art in schools. The benefits explained throughout the article show the effectiveness of different art programs and how powerful they can be on students.
Arts encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film and painting. It opens the door to minds so ideas and feelings  can overflow into  constructive decisions that shape the youth of America. Some researchers oppose art though, and state that there is not a need for art in the schools. An example of these opposing thoughts can be shown in Robin Pogrebin’s article, ” Book Tackles Old Debate: Role of Art in Schools.” ” When tow researchers published a study a few years ago concluding that art classes do not improve students overall academic performance, the backlash was bitter. Some scholars argued that the 2000 study’s authors, Ellen Winner and Lois Hetlnd of Project Zero and arts education program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education- had failed to mention some beneficial effects of art classes that their research had revealed. Other cited findings that reached the opposite conclusion, indicating that students who take high quality art classes indeed do better in other courses. Some even accused the authors of devaluing arts education and the arts in general. In their view art education should be championed for its own sake, not because of a wishful sentiment that classes in painting, dance and music improve pupils math and reading skills and standardized test scores.” ( Pogrenbin)
In her article, ” Arts can lead to a lifetime of learning,: Shana Adams introduces a concept of the learning connections of art to subjects with the reactions of both teachers and students. ” Imagine for a moment that you are in the fifth grade, learning fractions. If you were not a math whiz back then , you may have wondered ” When am I ever going to get this?” Your teacher then announces that your class is going to learn how to dance fractions. You and your classmates are divided into groups of four and in a circle through various movements your group begins to demonstrate the concepts of a whole, half and so on. Suddenly you realize that you actually understand fractions! This is one of many examples of how using the arts to teach and support core curriculum enables students to become active participants in the learning process.( Adams)
Adams shows how much fun it can be to learn with lessons like the one described above., but what are the benefits  for both teachers and students? ” Learning through the arts ensures that all types of learners have the chance to comprehend math,  science, and the world around them in meaningful ways stretching beyond traditional lectures and textbooks. Arts integration is an essential, fun, and rewarding way to transform classrooms. As teachers embrace innovative ways to educate students through the arts they often seek relationships and collaborations with teachers across subject areas, artists and with cultural organizations. ” ( Adams)
There are numerous studies proving arts’ powerful effects on students, one specific study being found in an article titled, ” The Arts Make a Difference at SPECTRA+, Hamilton, OH”. Written by Jackie Quay, this intense article shows how some towns in America are making the best of art programs in schools. ” Is there such a thing as kids who actually want to go to school on snow days?. At Adams Elementary in Hamilton, Ohio, there are parents and teachers who will proudly tell you this strange devotion to their school really exists. The credit, they believe, goes to a beloved program, SPECTRA, whose guiding principle is reaching the whole child with an arts-rich curriculum. The program integrates arts instruction across the disciplines at every grade level. Children at Adams experience the arts as part of each of their core subjects- math, science, language arts, and social studies. They also participate in a class in each of four art disciplines- visual arts, music,dance and and drama- every week, taught by a certified art instructor. Teachers work together on lesson plans so concepts learned in both arts and non-arts classes are coordinated and reinforce each other.
SPECTRA + brings the fine arts into the curriculum and the curriculum into the arts ” (Quay)
” One of the values of integrating art into the curriculum is it gives children multiple opportunities to learn a concept, ” says Jackie Quay, who administers SPECTRA+ for the Fitton Center. In other words, if children aren’t;t learning a concept through one experience, they’ll learn it through another. Children have a better chance to “get” a concept if they’re learning it from multiple sources. Kids at Adams do not just learn to tell time, for example, by hearing a description of an abstract concept and watching the teacher move the arrows on a cardboard display. They are taught a dance where they become a clock, with their movements hanging to reflect the changing hours, They become time. SPECTRA+ also gives us a chance to apply the concept of multiple intelligences. say Quay. ” Kids are smart in different ways. Some kids read and write well, other kids do better showing you what they know through their hands. The program gives a child more options to express what they know, and it gives teacher other ways to know if a child understands what’s being taught.”( Quay)
“This program gives kids the chance to watch and interact with artists of all types; including visual artists, folk and traditional artists, authors, puppeteers, quilters, musicians, and composers. Residencies of one to three weeks are tied to teaching units in any core subjects. ” If the kids are studying short stories in language arts,: says Leist, ” we’d invite an illustrator to show how pictures can work with words,” At another SPECTRA+ school in Hamilton, a media artist demonstrated the creative and technical aspects of a video production, a tie-in for a language arts segment. Kids learned how a story is created, made clay animation figure, and learned special-effects features such as how to show the passage of time. The word pride comes up frequently in conversations about SPECTRA+ – school pride, professional pride student pride, and parent pride. ” (Quay)
Most all of these examples support the fact that arts programs need to remain in American school systems. The importance of art  opening the minds of modern day students must continue with future children in the U.S. If art programs are cut then Americans will no longer be able to grasp creative spirits and flourish intellectually. Arts helps people grow, see, and feel things they ahve never imagined. Arts can take people places the mind cannot even comprehend. Art must stay alive.