FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


March 20, 2008

Statewide Gathering in Albany Brings Educators and Artists Together

What: CommonGround New York State Arts in Education Conference
When: April 9 - 11 (early registration ends April 1st)
Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Albany

Picture this: a roomful of teachers, administrators and artists create and edit an original piece of historical fiction as a podcast to be distributed electronically to students, and then develop lessons from it that support their school curriculum of empathy and character development.

That’s just one way educators and their artist partners will be problem-solving at the 2008 CommonGround Conference in Albany April 9 - 11. Every year, this gathering contributes to fresh curriculum design, school reform and new models for classroom learning around New York State.

CommonGround is the annual New York State arts-in-education conference that brings over 250 administrators, teachers, teaching artists, and community members together for three days of policy setting, planning, exchange of skills and inspirational speakers. This year, the conference has a special focus on issues of global citizenship, new technology as a tool for teaching artists and students, and university/community partnerships. A variety of participatory workshops approach those issues in terms of Core Knowledge, Curriculum and Assessment, and Educational Reform.

Featured speakers will include New York State Council on the Arts Executive Director Heather Hitchens, Florida Atlantic University professor, researcher and author Dr. Gail Burnaford and NYS Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education Jeffrey W. Cannell. There will also be a special performance, open to the general public, by playwright/actor Jaehn Clare of Tail Tell Tale on Wednesday, April 9 at 8:00. All events take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany.

"New research regularly appears that reinforces the strong links between the arts and learning, and the general public is aware that students need new skill sets,” says conference coordinator Bonnie Nizamis. “This conference brings together educators, artists, and administrators to work together to give our kids the best possible preparation for the 21st century."

Complete information about the conference, including on-line registration, workshop schedule, keynote speakers, and much more, can be found at www.arts4ed.org.

Syracuse-based Partners for Arts Education coordinates the conference through collaboration with the New York State Council for the Arts, NYS Alliance for Arts Education, NYS Education Department, New York Foundation for the Arts, Empire State Partnerships and the Association of Teaching Artists.

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