FOR IMMEDIATE REALEASE
March 19, 2009
Educators and Artists Collaborate at Statewide Gathering in Albany
What: CommonGround Conference
Who: for educators, artists, cultural organizations
Where: Crowne Plaza, Albany, NY
When: Wednesday, March 25th- Friday, March 27th
Envision this scene: a roomful of teachers, administrators and artists create a mini-musical, complete with singing, dancing and dialog, and perform for one another. In the process, they're exercising and expanding their skills in teamwork, sequential processing and organization, literacy and communications. They'll take that experience home and apply it to their work in classrooms, teacher training and community building.
That’s what will be happening in “Journey from Page to Stage,” just one of the many workshops at the 2009 CommonGround conference.
CommonGround, the annual New York State conference for arts in education, brings administrators, teachers, teaching artists, and community members together for three days of policy setting, planning, exchange of skills and inspirational speakers.
Arts in education, also known as arts integration, is a type of teaching and learning in which educators and artists collaboratively use the visual and performing arts as a tool to teach other core subjects, such as reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. The conference contributes to a fresh curriculum design, school reform and new models for classroom learning.
"These are challenging times for the educational and cultural communities," said PAE's executive director, Laura Reeder. "When artists and educators work together to prepare our children for the 21st century, everyone benefits."
CommonGround offers over 40 workshops, study groups and creative engagement sessions for its attendees. Some address the effects of the current economy on arts and education, such as "Yes We Can: The New Strategic Landscape for Arts Education Organizations," "The New Federal Role in Arts Education" and "Budget Treasure Hunt: Aligning Existing Resources for Arts Education Partnerships."
Teachers and teaching artists can hone their skills in curriculum development in workshops like "Teaching English Through the Lens of Media Arts," “Building Inclusive Arts Learning Experiences” and “Artful Habits of Mind for 21st-Century Skills.”
The increased attention on assessment in education makes workshops like “What's the Connection? Integrated Arts Learning and Its Impact on Student Achievement," ”Process Made Visible: Activate your Potential as a Research-Practitioner" and "Video Assessment" invaluable for teachers and administrators.
This year’s keynote speaker is Karen Brooks Hopkins, member of the New York State Board of Regents and president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), who will speak on "Arts and Education: The Perfect Match." She oversees BAM's employees and facilities, including the 2100-seat Howard Gilman Opera House and 874-seat BAM Harvey Theater and the four-theater BAM Rose Cinemas. The Regents are responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within the State, presiding over the state university system and the New York State Education Department.
CommonGround 2009 is sponsored by Partners for Arts Education (PAE) and the New York State Council on the Arts in collaboration with: New York State Education Department, New York State Alliance for Arts Education, Association of Teaching Artists, BOCES Arts-In-Education Network, and Empire State Partnerships.
For more information about conference offerings and PAE, visit their website at www.arts4ed.org.
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