February 2006 Newsletter

SMARTS: BRING BACK THE ARTS

CALIFORNIA STATE PTA ONLINE NEWSLETTER

February 2006

SMARTS is California State PTA’s program to encourage arts education. The California State PTA wants to create advocates for quality arts education at every school in California. We hope you will spread the word about the benefits of arts education. Please e-mail this newsletter to PTA district, council and unit members.

In this issue:

1) Advocacy for the Arts

California Budget Contains Arts Funding
SupportMusic.Com
Quality, Equity, and Access: A Report on the Arts in California Schools
National PTA Supports the Arts

2) Interactive Websites for Parents, Teachers, and Students

I Hear America Singing
Poetry Out Loud
NEA Jazz in the Schools
BBC: Poetry On Display

3) Announcements

Celebrate African American History Month
Learning in the Arts Grants
ING Unsung Heroes
MetLife Foundation Partners in Arts Education Project.

1) Advocacy for the Arts

California Budget Contains Arts Funding
The Governor's budget proposes $100 million to create an Art and Music Block Grant to support standards-aligned art and music instruction in kindergarten and grades one through eight. For more information about the budget, go to:
http://govbud.dof.ca.gov/BudgetSummary/K12/8863392.html

Support Music.Com
Music and the arts are vital to every child's education. Is your child's music program in danger of being cut? This site offers effective tips for taking action and the latest evidence of music's importance
http://www.supportmusic.com/

Quality, Equity, and Access: A Report on the Arts in California Schools
The briefing paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the status of arts education in California.
Download your copy:
http://www.artsed411.org/artsed/docs/briefingpaper05.pdf

National PTA Supports the Arts
Does your school have a great music program? Participate in the American Music Conference Survey on the National PTA web site.
http://www.pta.org/archive_article_details_1139005587750.html

2) Interactive Websites for Parents, Teachers, and Students

I Hear America Singing
Visit this web portal to the performing arts features music, theater and dance collections of the Library of Congress.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/ihas/ihashome.html

Poetry Out Loud
Created by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, this program encourages high school students to memorize and perform great poems.
http://poetryoutloud.org/

NEA Jazz in the Schools
This multi-media curriculum is designed to be as useful to high school history and social studies teachers as it is to music teachers.
http://media.jalc.org/nea/home.php?uv=s

BBC: Poetry On Display
Poems to Make, Watch and Hear
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/ondisplay/index.shtml

3) Announcements

Celebrate African-American History Month
The National Association for Music Education provides music resources for African-American History Month.
http://www.menc.org/guides/aahistory/AfricanAmericanHistory.html

Learning in the Arts Grants
National Endowment for the Arts Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth Program offers funding for projects that help children and youth acquire appreciation, knowledge, and understanding of and skills in the Arts.
http://www.arts.gov/grants/apply/GAP07/LearningintheArts.html

Ing Unsung Heroes
ING celebrates creativity in the classroom with grants of $2,000 to $25,000.
http://www.ing.com/us/unsungheroes

MetLife Foundation Partners in Arts Education Project.
The project’s goal is to improve teaching and learning in the arts by advancing high-quality, sustainable partnerships between community schools of the arts and public schools.
http://www.nationalguild.org/programs/partners.htm

To Subscribe:
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If you would like to terminate your subscription to the SMARTS newsletter, send an e-mail to SMARTSenews@capta.org and in the subject area type "Remove" or "Unsubscribe" and your name will be removed.

For help or to send comments, suggestions, and inquiries send an e-mail to info@capta.org.

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