Art in Our Schools

Over the past several months a committee at the New Jersey Department of Education has been reviewing the NJQSAC, DPR process. The goal of this review was to streamline the accountability process. Sounds like a good thing right? Well, I'm not so sure about that.

NJQSAC is the process NJ schools go through every three years to demonstrate they are providing the proper instruction required by the state. It's a lengthy, time consuming process that no one likes, but in my opinion, it's been kind of a "good nuisance", because it keeps art programs (and other special area programs) in the arena with the other core subjects. It validates and acknowledges all of the subject areas and their role in preparing 21st century learners.

If the changes they are proposing go through, the two tiers would be:

TIER 1 (STAYS MONITORED): Language Arts Literacy, Math, Science, Social Studies and World Languages. These content areas will remain as part of the NJQSAC District Performance Review.

TIER 2 (WOULD NOT BE MONITORED): Visual and Performing Arts, Technology, Health and Physical Education and Career Education. Under the new changes, these content areas would no longer be monitored through the NJQSAC District Performance Review.

It's a sensitive issue, because this is the first attempt, by any group, to prioritize content areas, defining some to be "important enough to monitor", and others "not as important".

A public hearing on the changes is scheduled for August 3RD at 3 PM.

Email the NJ State Board of Education Office

and ask that all nine content areas be included in the DPR under Items 14, 15 and 16 of the proposed District Performance Review.

Click HERE to send a message. You will be provided with an editable form letter.

What's at risk??? It's my concern that this type of change to the core content areas in the state of New Jersey will make it easier (and acceptable) for school districts to reduce course offerings and cut programs in the Tier 2 subject areas. In education, things that aren't "required" have a funny way of disappearing.

If students don't have to have certain courses to graduate, as required by the state, they're easier to cut because they are deemed as unecessary. I don't know about you, but since when has a holistic, well-rounded education ever been UNecessary???

when TRAsh becomes ART

The RMS Plastic Installations - JUNE 8, 2011

Inspired by the school-wide art theme, "Art is Elemental" the RMS students rescued plastic utensils from the garbage during their lunches from September to June. The dirty utensils were "thrown away" in a special container, and were washed and decorated - ready for their new life as Art.
Fifteen middle school students were randomly selected to participate in the installation project and created three temporary murals using over 1,200 decorated utensils and over 1,700 plastic lids! The RMS Plastic Installations speak to our society's reliance on disposable plastics.

Watch the video!

Click here to see more photos and to read the students’ statements.

Our Bowls are Full

Hunger in America. The statistics are alarming. For one in every six Americans, being hungry or without enough nourishing food is a real concern. For children, the current national statistic is even more grim - one in four children can’t rely on having enough to eat.

Empty Bowls is an international grassroots effort to fight hunger and was created by The Imagine Render Group. The basic premise is simple: Artists, educators and others work with the community to create handcrafted bowls. Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a cash donation, guests are asked to keep a bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world. The money raised is donated to an organization working to end hunger and food insecurity.

This year, my art students, the NHS and the student council students, hosted their third dinner! As of 2011, our community has donated over $12,000 to The Foodbank of South Jersey, as well as over 60 gallons of leftover soup to a local soup kitchen, and hundreds of dollars worth of canned goods to a local shelter. This is a big shout out to my colleagues, Paul and Maura for helping to make it happen, and to my students who keep me smiling!

There are many organizations all over the United States that would benefit from an Empty Bowls event that you could host at your school, church or community center!! Helping others feels good, teaches an invaluable lesson and reminds us that being part of a community involves working together to impact change.

To learn more about our HTHS dinner event, click here.

Some other great links to inspire you to get started:
Philabundance
Feeding America
Share our Strength
Bread for the World
End Hunger Network
World Food Day – Annually on October 16th.