Arts Ed Advocacy Day

Documentation of the day – February 17

If you were able to attend the virtual plenary sessions on February 17 in recognition of Arts Education Advocacy Day you are aware of the outstanding opportunity the 2 hour session provided. If you were not there, you’re in luck. All of the sessions were recorded and embedded below. The day was organized by the Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE) in collaboration with the leaders of the ABC – Arts Are Basic Coalition.

The first one below actually took place during the last part of Arts Education Advocacy Day, the ABC Student Advocacy Initiatives. We know at the heart of providing quality arts education programs and access to it are students! I salute all the Maine students who care deeply for the arts and are afforded an excellent curriculum. And, to all the arts educators striving to provide access to these programs, thank you!

ABC Student Advocacy Initiative

Governor Janet T. Mills Arts Ed Advocacy Message

Remarks from Maine Arts Commission Arts Education Director Martha Piscuskas

Conversation with Maine Art Education Association President Lynda Leonas and Argy Nestor

Visual Art Advocacy Video Maine Minds

Conversation with Maine Educational Theatre Association leader Kailey Smith and Beth Lambert

Maine Department of Education – Kellie Bailey, Social/Emotional Learning and Trauma-Informed Practices Specialist, Commissioner Pender Makin, and Jason Anderson, Visual and Performing Arts Specialist

Conversation with Maine Dance Educator representative Thornton Academy Dance Educator Emma Campbell and MaryEllen Schaper

Conversation with Maine Music Educators Association President Sandra Barry and Kaitlin Young

Music Advocacy Video

Thank you to Susan Potters, Executive Director of MAAE and Melissa Birkhold MAAE Advocacy Coordinator for the plenary session for Maine Arts Ed Advocacy Day and making these individual videos available. The videos are also available on the MAAE website at THIS LINK.

Arts Education Advocacy Day

Don’t miss it!

REGISTER HERE TO PARTICIPATE

Every Student Succeeds Act

The State of Things

Visual and Performing Arts Specialist at the Maine Department of Education, Beth Lambert will periodically be writing blog posts under the title of “The State of Things”. Today is her first offering on the topic of Every Student Succeeds Act, the new legislation from the federal government. I know you join me in appreciating what Beth has to offer in this post and in future posts. If you have questions or feedback for Beth please contact her at beth.lambert@maine.gov.

On Thursday, December 10^th, 2015, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) became the new federal education law of the land. In an effort to contrast the heavy-handed federal accountability requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), ESSA has shifted much more responsibility for educational policy to the state level.

So, what does this mean for Arts Education?

No Child Left Behind included the arts in the core subject areas, listed on equal footing with math, science, English, social studies, and foreign language. This was a huge win for arts education and has allowed for the arts to have a place at the table in conversations regarding graduation requirements and use of Federal funds, including Title 1.

ESSA has changed things a bit.

There are no longer core subject areas, but rather a requirement to offer student a “well-rounded education.” A “well-rounded education” is defined as: courses, activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and any other subject, as determined by the State or local education agency, with the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and educational experience, (Section 8002, Definitions).

In an intentional contrast to NCLB, ESSA give states much more choice in what they choose as accountability measures. The Every Students Succeeds Act requires that states develop and implement both programs and activities that support access to a well-rounded education, but what programs and activities those are, are largely state and local school boards’ discretion.

SO, that means your voice is more important than ever! Your administrators and local school boards need to understand that visual and performing arts education is essential to a well-rounded education. Keep your place at the table and educate your community on the impact the arts can have on low-performing schools, how integrating the arts can improve understanding in all subject areas and inspire innovation that is desperately needed in this country.

Beth Lambert (beth.lambert@maine.gov) is the Visual and Performing Arts Specialist at the Maine Department of Education

Great Day for Arts Education

Celebration at the State House

Last week 75 students in grades PK-12 were honored for their accomplishments in visual art and music education. We celebrated in the Hall of Flags in Maine’s State House. We are honored to have the First Lady Ann LePage as a partner in the Excellence in Visual and Performing Arts Education and to join us in recognizing the students in the ceremony.

Joining the First Lady in the Hall of Flags was Maine Arts Commission Executive Director Julie Richard, State Board of Education Chair Martha Harris, Acting Education Commissioner Bill Beardsley, and Legislators, Mick Devin (Nobleboro) and Martin Grohman (Biddeford).

Students from AOS 93, AOS 92, MSAD 41, and the Biddeford School districts were presented certificates and viewed their artwork on display throughout the State House complex, in the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Department of Education.

Additionally, students from the Waterville High School Jazz Band under the direction of Sue Barre and a select choir under the direction of Ciara Hargrove performed at the ceremony. I know that Sue, Ciara and visual art teachers Lisa Workman, Kate Grant, Suzanne Goulet, and Sasha Bladen are proud of their students’ accomplishments!

This is a first for the State of Maine. The Maine Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission are collaborating to bring together this exhibit and in celebrating the students and teachers in a ceremony. I am sooooo excited that this is happening for Maine’s students and teachers!

It is a pleasure to work with Maine’s DOE Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Beth Lambert on the Excellence in Maine Visual and Performing Arts Education exhibit and celebration ceremony.

If you have questions or are interested in participating, please contact Beth at beth.lambert@maine.gov or me at argy.nestor@maine.gov.

Photo credits to the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission.

 

Celebrating Student Artists

Hall of Flags – Friday, December 4

 

The Maine Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission are holding a celebration of Excellence in Maine Visual and Performing Arts Education hosted by First Lady, Ann LePage, December 4, in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta. Joining the First Lady are State Board of Education Chair Martha Harris, and Maine Arts Commission Executive Director Julie Richards, and Acting Education Commissioner Bill Beardsley. Legislators, Mick Devin (Nobleboro) and Martin Grohman (Biddeford) will also be present to recognize students from their districts.

The Excellence in Maine Visual and Performing Arts Education is a rotating exhibit that displays artwork throughout the Statehouse Complex and the Department of Education in the Cross Building. Sixty-three students from AOS 93, AOS 92, MSAD 41, and the Biddeford School district will have their artwork displayed through the end of February. Additionally, student musicians from AOS 92 will perform at the celebration. Mrs. LePage will be presenting each student a certificate and a letter from Governor Paul LePage recognizing the talent of Maine students.

Governor LePage’s letter to the students reads in part, “The arts are a vitally important part of any education because it’s the creative thinking that leads to imagining new ways of making things work and improving the world we live in.”

Maine DOE Visual and Performing Arts Specialist Beth Lambert says, “I am so proud of the work Maine arts teachers are doing with our students throughout the state. It is a privilege to have these students come to Augusta and be honored in this way. Arts education is essential for all students in order to gain the skills needed to develop college and career readiness, such as critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity so that Maine kids can succeed in the ever-changing diverse and global economies of today’s world.”

For more information contact, Visual and Performing Arts Specialist Beth Lambert at beth.lambert@maine.gov or 624-6642.

 

 

 

Call for Student Artwork

EXCELLENCE IN MAINE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS EDUCATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

For over ten years, the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission have been fortunate to celebrate arts education by hosting rotating student art exhibits. These exhibits celebrate the high quality of visual art education in Maine.

This year, the Department and Commission are combining their efforts to provide these exhibits. The rotating exhibits will be displayed throughout the State House complex and in the Department of Education. Each exhibit will feature two districts from two superintendent regions in Maine. Each district will display 24 pieces so please reach out to the other art teachers in your district. During the period your students’ artwork is displayed, the artists and their families will be invited to the Hall of Flags for a Celebration of Excellence in Visual and Performing Arts Education reception. The Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission will recognize each student for their accomplishments. The reception will feature performances from the districts represented in the art show.

Please consider submitting your students’ artwork. The exhibition guidelines are below. If you are interested in displaying your student artwork, please contact Beth Lambert at 624-6642 or beth.lambert@maine.gov.

Thank you for all you do!

~ Beth Lambert, Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Maine Department of Education

~ Argy Nestor, Director of Arts Education, Maine Arts Commission

Welcome Beth Lambert!

News from the Maine Department of Education – VPA Specialist

I am absolutely giddy over the announcement of Beth Lambert as the new Visual and Performing Arts Specialist at the Maine Department of Education. Beth has most recently taught performing arts education at Carrabec High School in North Anson. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts/English from Lawrence University and a Masters in Educational Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)

Beth brings 10 years of education experience at the middle and high school levels in the Arts. In addition to her classroom experience, Ms. Lambert worked for Syntiro as an assistant director for the GEAR UP grant and served as a research assistant at HGSE. Through her involvement in the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI, formerly Maine Arts Assessment Initiative, MAAI) and her local leadership in standards, curriculum and assessment, she has extensive experience with proficiency-based assessments, student-centered teaching and teacher leadership.

Beth was a member of the MALI Resource Bank team in 2013-14 and created resources that are available as part of the Maine Assessment Resources website http://www.maineartsassessment.com/. Theatre at http://maairesourcebank.pbworks.com/w/page/82916230/MAAI%20Resource%20Bank.

Beth is involved with state and national VPA professional organizations including the MALI, the Maine Drama Council and Maine Arts Commission with Poetry Out Loud.

I know that you will all join me in welcoming Beth to the Maine DOE, during her first week on the job. You can reach her at beth.lambert@maine.gov.  We are certain that her commitment and passion for arts education makes Beth a GREAT choice for the position and look forward to working with her through all of the work underway for Maine students and the ARTS! Yahoooooo!

In Beth’s own words: “I am pleased to be starting this position at the Maine Department of Education and look forward to working collaboratively with Argy Nestor, and everyone with MALI, to continue to support and foster great learning for arts teachers and students in Maine!”

Maine Arts Assessment Initiative Webinar

Last webinar of the series

Catherine Ring will be hosting the last in a series of webinars with Rob Westerberg  as part of the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI).  The webinar entitled The Resource Bank: Standards-Based Units by Arts Educators will take place on Wednesday, June 11,  2014 from 3:30 – 4:30. Primary discussions will be based around:

• What is the Research Bank?
• History, Process, Challenges
• The Role of Critical Friends
• Ensuring Quality
• Sneak Peak at the Units
• How the Resource Bank can be Used
• The Future – Ongoing and Growing

Engaging participants in dialogue around these topics, and discovering how to both use the Resource Bank and be future contributors to it will be takeaways from this webinar.

Our Guests will include two Teacher Leaders with MAAI, Jake Sturtevant, Music Educator from Bonny Eagle High School and Beth Lambert, Theatre Educator from Carrabec High School. Both Jake and Beth served on the Resource Bank Team this past year, and will be sharing the Standards-Based Units they have designed and contributed to the Resource Bank, providing a “sneak peak” of some of the 12 units designed by six Teacher Leaders on the team.

• To join the meeting, please click here.
• Enter as a guest and sign in using your first and last name please.
• Click enter room.
• Please be wired and do not use a wireless connect.
• No telephone is required. (There is no call-in number).

Please join the webinar at 3:20 and go to the top left corner of you screen, click on the drop down menu, Meeting, Audio Setup Wizard and follow the directions to check your audio.

Please click here for more information about the other webinars and the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative.

Please be sure to join them for what promises to be an engaging, insightful hour on the topic that will continue to impact every one of us as arts educators in the state of Maine!

 

An initiative of the Maine Department of Education with contributing partners: ACTEM (Association of Computer Technology Educators of Maine), MAAE (Maine Alliance for Arts Education), MAEA (Maine Art Education Association), MECA (Maine College of Art), MMEA (Maine Music Educators Association), MLTI (Maine Learning Technology Initiative), New England Institute for Teacher Education, and USM (University of Southern Maine).

Another Arts Teacher’s Story: Beth Lambert

Carrabec High School Performing Arts Teacher

This is the third post for 2014 and phase three of the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative of this series sharing arts teacher’s stories. These blog posts contain a set of questions to provide the opportunity for you to learn from others.

Beth Lambert teaches about 100 students in grades 7 and 8 Unified Arts and grades 9-12 Performing Arts in MSAD #74, Carrabec. This is her second year teaching at this school district.

What do you like best about being a performing arts teacher?

The best part about being a theater educator is challenging my students’ perceptions about their world and about themselves. I get to provide them with an outlet for emotions, thoughts, and dreams that they might not otherwise have means to express. In my class, a student can become another, explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal choices and solutions to very real problems- problems from their own life, or problems faced by characters in literature or historical figures, in a safe environment.

What do you believe are three keys to ANY successful visual and performing arts education?

1. Support from administration and community.
2. A teacher who understands the importance of making and maintaining authentic connections with his/her students.
3. A teacher who can make the art real for the students- someone who understands what her community needs and offers art as a means to make life richer.

How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?

Clear rubrics take the guess-work, and often, much of the fear, out of performing for a grade. Students know exactly what they are expected to be able to do and when they are ready to show me that they can do it, they are assessed. Students are in more control of their own learning and success.

What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative?

Without a doubt, the greatest benefit has been getting to know, work with, and learn from such an able group of arts educators.

Additionally, it is has allowed me the opportunity to do targeted work on my classroom from an arts educator’s perspective.

What are you most proud of in your career?

My students.

What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?

All the non-teaching stuff that teachers must do takes them away from teaching and becoming better teachers. Also, ourselves- sometimes we get in our own way.

What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?

Everything.

Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?

Always remember that we are here for the students- make your choices based on what is best for them and do right by them. The rest with fall into place.

If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

I would build my students the performing space they deserve and would set up scholarship programs so that I never again have to see a child’s dream fade because they couldn’t pay.

Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?

No. Every road, no matter how broken, crooked, or difficult, has brought me to where I am today and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else!