February 2007 Newsletter

SMARTS: BRING BACK THE ARTS

CALIFORNIA STATE PTA ONLINE NEWSLETTER

April 2007

SMARTS is California State PTAs 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

Does your school have an Arts Education Plan?

2) Interactive Websites for Parents, Teachers, and Students

Educator Guides from SPARK Ed
Global Sound
Lyrical Legacy: 400 Years of American Song and Poetry

3) Announcements

Strategic Recommendations for Maximizing New Arts Funding
State of the Arts: Leadership in Education Conference
MetLife Foundation Partners in Arts Education Project
C-SPAN Classroom

1) Advocacy for the Arts

Does your school have an Arts Education Plan?
The Insiderâ€™s Guide to Arts Education Planning provides a hands-on, how-to planning process for schools, districts and counties.

Introduction
http://www.artsed411.org/insiders-guide/intro.stm

Developing Your Community Arts Team
http://www.artsed411.org/insiders-guide/chapter1.stm

Looking at the Current Status of Arts Education
http://www.artsed411.org/insiders-guide/chapter2.stm

2) Interactive Websites for Parents, Teachers, and Students

SparkEd contains educational materials for K-12 and post-secondary educators, offering media resources, Educator Guides, and other tools to make contemporary arts an integral part of learning.
http://www.kqed.org/arts/spark/sparked.jsp

Global Sound
Take a look at the Smithsonian Global Sound web site: free lessons and activities to enrich students' understanding of musical traditions and cultural heritage.
http://www.globalsound.si.edu/teaching_activities.aspx#Activities

Lyrical Legacy: 400 Years of American Song and Poetry
Lyrical Legacy helps teachers explore eighteen American songs and poems from the digital collections of the Library of Congress.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/

3) Announcements

Strategic Recommendations for Maximizing New Arts Funding
The California Arts Project shares strategies for teachers, administrators, parents, and others involved in decision making on the use of the new state funds.
http://csmp.ucop.edu/tcap/news/support_visual.html

State of the Arts: Leadership in Education Conference
You are invited to the State of the Arts: Leadership in Education Conference in Sacramento, CA, May 15-16,2007. For more information and to download a brochure and registration form:
http://www.artsed411.org/projects/docs/Arts%20Conference%20registration07.pdf

C-SPAN Classroom
Educators can enroll in a FREE membership service for ideas, information and resources for teaching U.S. government and civics with C-SPAN's television programming and web sites.
http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/

MetLife Foundation Partners in Arts Education Project
The National Guild and MetLife Foundation will award grants of up to $20,000 to support exemplary community school of the arts/public school partnerships. The application deadline is Friday, May 25, 2007.
http://www.nationalguild.org/programs/partners.htm

To Subscribe:
If you wish to be added to the subscriber list to this newsletter, send an e-mail to SMARTSenews@capta.org. Enter the word "Subscribe" into the subject area or the body of the email and you will automatically be added.

To Unsubscribe:
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.

The California State PTA SMARTS newsletter is sent free of charge via the Internet as a service of the California State PTA in the furtherance of its nonprofit and tax-exempt status. Unless otherwise noted, PTAs may reproduce and distribute the materials from the California State PTA website for PTA use without express written permission. California State PTA materials may not be duplicated by any other organization or person without written permission.

California State PTA

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