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Arts Commission News

"Element of Courage" to be Focus of Whole Schools Summer Institute

DATE:             June 28 , 2007

CONTACT:     Susan Dobbs, Public Relations Director                                       601-359-6031 or sdobbs@arts.state.ms.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

JACKSON— The ninth annual Summer Institute of the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Whole Schools Initiative will offer educators new and innovative ideas for classroom arts integration.  The Institute, themed “The Element of Courage,” will be held on the campus of The University of Mississippi July 15 – 19, 2007.  

Approximately 300 teachers, artists and administrators from more than 40 schools will gather in Oxford to study everything from arts integrated curriculum design to ballroom dancing.  The Institute focuses on bringing new and engaging educational opportunities to Mississippi students.

Classes will begin after lunch on Sunday, July 15th with a series of special workshops and arts experiences, followed by keynote speaker Rafe Esquith, the acclaimed fifth grade teacher from a poverty-ridden section of Los Angeles, whose lesson plans include Shakespeare and Vivaldi.  As a result of his teaching practices, his students score in the top one percent on standardized tests and go on to attend Ivy League universities.  Esquith will also teach a class on Sunday at 1:00pm entitled “There Are No Shortcuts.”    

"Understanding by Design" (UbD), to run Monday through Thursday, teaches a way of thinking that allows educators to adapt curriculum with the goal of promoting better student understanding.  For the third summer, the Whole Schools Institute will offer UbD training in a stand alone unit class or in conjunction with its Sunday and evening offerings.  Teaching through the arts combined with aligning curriculum, increases a teacher's instructional repertoire, enabling them to tap students varied strengths and to give them multiple ways to acquire, process, and demonstrate what they have learned. 

Since 1992, the Commission has provided grant funds, technical assistance and professional development opportunities to Mississippi schools. It is the goal of the Commission to assist schools in the development and implementation of arts-based, interdisciplinary curriculum. The Summer Institute was created nine years ago to offer comprehensive professional development opportunities educators need to deliver effective arts-infused instruction. In addition to the Institute training, participating Whole Schools receive up to $8,000 a year in grant support, several retreat opportunities during the school year, plus a Field Advisor to offer assistance, support, advice and training.  

The Whole Schools Initiative is open to grades kindergarten through 12 and strives to engage everyone from principals to parents to work toward integrating the arts into existing school curricula in order to further prove the powerful role the arts play in learning. 

Visit the WSI website at www.mswholeschools.org to learn more about Whole Schools and the annual Institute.  For more information about the Mississippi Arts Commission, visit http://www.arts.state.ms.us/.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is a state agency funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wallace Foundation and other private sources. The Commission serves more than 1.7 million Mississippians through grants that support programs to enhance communities across the state; assist artists and arts organizations; promote the arts in education and celebrate Mississippi’s cultural heritage. The Commission is the official grantsmaking and service agency for the arts in Mississippi

 

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