New Albany - Plain Local Schools has again been awarded funding from the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) for a number of projects to benefit our students. The district was informed last week by the OAC that we would receive the maximum amount - $36,000. Grant awards depend on a variety of factors, including application scores, the total number of applicants approved for funding, and the amount of funds available in the OAC's budget.
What it will fund
New Albany First and Second Grade Signature Experiences
This residency is designed in two parts: The Carnival of the Animals First Grade Signature Experience and The Journey of Orpheus and Eurydice Second Grade Signature Experience.
The first grade experience is a continuation of an on-going program in which our artist-in-residence, Marquette Stankowski, works with all sixteen first grade classes and their teachers to prepare for a series of performances of The Carnival of the Animals in New Albany’s McCoy Center for the Arts. Mr. Stankowski is joined by professional choreographers from the New Albany Children’s Ballet Theater to create and teach the dances presented by each class. Classroom teachers and their students work with Mr. Stankowski to write and present poetry based on the students’ research of their animals. Mr. Stankowski also works with each class to learn, understand and perform a poem from The Tempest by William Shakespeare. This process takes place over the course of ten weeks spread out between August and March.
The second grade experience is the full implementation of a previous pilot project developed as part of a TeachArtsOhio grant. Mr. Stankowski will collaborate with all sixteen second grade classes and their teachers to prepare for a series of performances of The Journey of Orpheus and Eurydice in New Albany’s Hinson Amphitheater or another appropriate outdoor setting. This arts-integrated learning experience combines the study of mythology, State of Ohio Science Standards for Second Grade, and public performance. The students learn about the atmosphere (weather and climate), changes in motion, and interactions within habitats as part of their science studies, and then work with Mr. Stankowski to create a performance that includes original poetry and dialogue written by the students in a telling of the Greek myth of Orpheus. Alaina Stacey, a rising country-music artist, joins the classes as they turn their poetry and research into songs and music for the performance. The project will be a combined fourteen weeks for Mr. Stankowski and Ms. Stacey for this portion of the residency spread out between August and May. Last year, local violinist (and school parent) Neftali Naranjo joined us in our final rehearsals and performances as a volunteer artist.
Link to TAO web page:
Likewise, many first grade parents volunteered during our Carnival rehearsals and performances at the McCoy Center. Part of the mission of the TAO grant is to increase community involvement in the arts. We hope to continue to enlist parent and community support as these signature experiences grow.
One of the features of this particular grant is that it allows the artist to be in the school building for the entire school day. This promotes collaborative projects that go beyond the specific events and encourages the artist to offer professional development to teachers through workshops and these additional projects. Last year, Mr. Stankowski was able to work with one third grade class and Middle School robotics teacher Andy Moore to workshop an engineering project in the form of a design competition in which students built and presented robots to other third grade classes. The project included writing original poetry about their robots using the same poem as Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven. Projects like these help promote arts-integrated learning for students and allow classroom teachers to expand their skills into new areas.
