Funding Possiblities

These are possible funding sources for you to consider if you are searching for money

EPA: Sense of Wonder Contest
To honor the late preservationist and ecologist Rachel Carson, the EPA, Generations United, and the Rachel Carson Council, Inc., are holding a photo, essay, and poetry contest “that best expresses the Sense of Wonder that you feel for the sea, the night sky, forests, birds, wildlife, and all that is beautiful to your eyes.” In her book The Sense of Wonder (written in the 1950s and published in a magazine in 1956), Carson used lyrical passages about the beauty of nature and the joy of helping children develop a sense of wonder and love of nature. Maximum award: publication on the websites of EPA Aging Initiative, Generations United, and Rachel Carson Council, Inc. Eligibility: entries must be joint projects involving a person under age 18 and a person age 50 or older. Deadline: June 10, 2011.
http://www.epa.gov/aging/resources/thesenseofwonder/index.htm

CVS: Caremark Community Grants
The CVS Caremark Community Grants Program is currently accepting proposals for programs targeting children with disabilities that address: health and rehabilitation services; a greater level of inclusion in student activities and extracurricular programs; opportunities or facilities that give greater access to physical movement and play; provision to uninsured individuals with needed care, in particular programs where the care received is of higher quality and delivered by providers who participate in accountable community health care programs. Maximum award: $5,000. Eligibility: nonprofit organizations. Deadline: October 31, 2011.
http://info.cvscaremark.com/community/ways-we-give

Summer Institute Planning Meeting

Decisions were made

Last Thursday we had an all day planning meeting for the Teacher Leader Summer Institute for Arts Assessment. We completed our goal of creating a rough draft of the summer schedule. Maine and arts educators are fortunate to have a team that has committed to carrying out this important work. The planning members are:

• Rob Westerberg
• Catherine Ring
• Jeff Beaudry
• Bronwyn Sale
• Carol Trimble
• Shalimar Poulin

The summer institute will be held for four days in August and we envision that the professional development opportunity will include three components:

1. Understanding assessment in the arts/what does quality assessment in the arts mean in a standards based arts education environment. What are the principles of quality assessment?
2. Leadership which includes three parts: a. teacher leaders in schools b. leading workshops  c. communicating with school administration
3. Learning how to utilize technology as a tool for assessment

Planning team hard at work!

If you haven’t visited the Maine arts assessment wiki it is located at http://maineartsassessment.pbworks.com/w/page/28365527/Maine-Arts-Assessment Our overall goal is to create an environment in Maine where assessment in arts education is an integral part of the work all arts educators do to deepen student learning in the arts. 

The leadership team has been selected and their names will be listed in the near future! We were very impressed with the quality of the applicants and look forward to working with them. If you have resources and/or samples of assessment tools please begin thinking about sending them for others to read and learn from the exciting work you do!

Just a reminder that you will have the opportunity to ontribute and learn at the statewide arts education conference scheduled for October 7th!

In Today’s News

Middle School acting competition

Tanya Mitchell has written an article for the Village Soup on the middle school acting competition scheduled for this Saturday, April 30th, at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. Several area middle school students are participating. Read more by clicking here.

Troy Howard Middle School drama students Ethan Campbell and Tina Hill in 'Thoroughly Modern Millie"

Pop-Ups! They’re Not JUST for Kids!

Pop-up collection at Bowdoin is drawing visitors

Thank you to Chris Toy for sending this information….

Not only can you travel to Bowdoin College to see the enormous collection of pop-up books but you can see part of the collection on Vimeo. The video is embedded below.

A new exhibition at Bowdoin College showcases pop-up books—for children and adults—from the Harold M. Goralnick (Class of ’71) Pop-up Book Collection. The exhibition, which is open to the public free of charge, is located on the second floor of Bowdoin’s Hawthorne-Longfellow Library. It runs through June 5, 2011. The George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives exhibition, is available online. The web version includes descriptions for all of the items in the show, and includes all of the text, but images for only a selection of the displayed items.

Pop-ups! They’re Not JUST for Kids from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.

Vote on Laptops for Maine Students

Do you think the Laptop Program has been beneficial to Maine students?

That is the question that WABI TV5 is asking on their website. Click on this link http://www.wabi.tv/, scroll down and on the left hand side you will see the question. I imagine that many of you have an opinion on the topic! So, please take a moment to cast your vote. There is also a spot for you to add comments if you’d like!

Signs of Spring

The sound of peepers were in the air last night and on our early morning walk we saw deer tracks and heard plenty of robins chirping. We picked up trash and bottles/cans on the side of the road before the grasses grow so tall we can’t see it. Raking the leaves out of the flower bed revealed all the small green shoots of plants coming out of the soil.

Today for Easter we had our traditional Greek celebration with red eggs, my Yiayia’s (grandmother’s) lamb fricasse, spanakopita, lemon potatoes, salad, and galatoboudiko. We are fortunate to have my 92 year old Mother visiting for a few days.

I absolutely love looking at the daffodils outside and even more inside each morning. It is hard not to smile when I start my day with the intense yellow. Happy Spring everyone!

A Tiny Wooden Ball Plays Bach

A moment to sigh… stop and sigh and enjoy!

Thanks to Emily Widdoes for sharing this link with Beth Whitney who passed it on to District III Maine Music Educators.

Everyone needs a moment of Zen… thank goodness someone has collaborated to created such an amazingly wonderful peaceful performance for us and everything about it is aesthetically pleasing (in my opinion). I wasn’t able to embed the video onto the blog so you’ll need to click on this link. Please don’t miss it!

Maine Student Acting Competition

Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast

Thanks to middle school teacher Jason Bannister for providing this post.

The first ever Maine Student Acting Competition will be held Saturday, April 30, from 9-5 at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. The middle school acting and singing tournament is the brainchild of Jason Bannister, English and Drama teacher at Troy Howard, as well as the drama club advisor.

The Maine Student Acting Competition offers students the opportunity to perform scenes, monologues, and musical theater numbers in front of an audience, compete against their peers, and receive constructive feedback on prepared theatrical material. The goal for participating students is to find their talent, strengths, and weaknesses and to be another tool to help them grow as theatre artists.

The participants compete in 2 rounds of up to six events. They are ranked in each round, and the top ranked competitors move on to the finals, which is performed, on stage, in front of everyone. It is a great opportunity for kids, who love acting and singing in front of a crowd, to pick their own material and share their talents to the world!

This is the first year of the MSAC. Jason Bannister has spoken to over 20 middle schools along the mid-coast, from Bangor to Tenants Harbor. While
there is an overwhelming interest in competing in the future, this year’s
tournament will see Belfast, Bucksport, Lincolnville, North Haven, and
Medomak compete in individual and team events (complete with trophies and bragging rights). With the success of this year, Bannister hopes more
middle schools will gather together their young, enthusiastic actors and
singers and register to compete next year!

If you would like to learn more about the Maine Student Acting Competition, you can contact Jason Bannister at Troy Howard Middle School (207-338-3320 x118) or email him (jbannister@rsu20.org). You are also
welcome to attend the competition and see what it’s all about! (it’s free)

Directions to Troy Howard Middle School
From Rt. 3 in Belfast get on Route 1 as if you were headed south toward
Rockland. At the intersection of Route 1 and Route 52 (This is where
AthenaHealth/Hannaford are and there is a traffic light) turn right and
head down Route 52 about 1 mile. The school is on the right just after the
YMCA. From the South on Rt. 1 the intersection of 1 and 52 is the first set of lights in Belfast. Turn left at intersection and school is about a half mile on right after the YMCA.

Moz’ART Group

This is very wonderful (and funny)

The Moz’Art group is from Poland and they perform a bit off beat. Two segments include Bobby McFerrin. You can appreciate Music, Art, Dance, Theatre all in one. This would be great to share with students of any age!

Spring Art Conference Rescheduled

Postponement due to snow on April 1st

Caleb Gr.1, Enfield Station Ele School, Sasha Bladen art teacher

The MAEA+USM Spring Art Education Conference is rescheduled for Friday, April 29th. The time-frames will remain the same; 7:30-8:00 registration; 8-9:15 opening remarks; and with sessions running from 9:30-4:00.

If you had not registered to attend for April 1st you are invited to attend and register by April 25th. Kelly Hrenko from USM has worked to reschedule presenters and welcomes all of you to participate! Please contact Kelly if you have questions or concerns at khrenko@usm.maine.edu
and should you have to cancel your registration, please contact Cameron Davis: cyd348@hotmail.com

The final schedule for the day is posted on the Maine Art Education Association website at
www.mainearted.org