ArtsNow
Learning (ArtsNow) has been selected to receive funding through the US
Department of Education’s (USDOE) Assistance for Arts Education Development and
Dissemination Grants Competition (AAEDD). ArtsNow has been awarded more
than $2.27 million over four years to fund its smART Literacy! project in four
elementary schools in both Georgia and South Carolina. Three of those
elementary schools are in the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.
ArtsNow’s
smART Literacy! initiative will deliver professional development and
job-embedded training in literacy-based arts integration to Garrison School for
the Arts, Heard Elementary School, and Marshpoint Elementary School. ArtsNow’s
curriculum consultants will work with educators to improve their ability to
effectively integrate various art forms with their literacy-focused content.
The project will benefit hundreds of SCCPSS students in kindergarten through
5th grades, improving students’ reading level and writing skills, while also
increasing engagement and enjoyment of learning.
In
the latter half of the project, 24 lead teachers will serve as dissemination
experts, providing peer mentoring and welcoming peer observations from other
elementary teachers within their respective districts. Through demonstration
lessons, videos of exemplary lesson delivery, and co-teaching between project
teachers and dissemination teachers, the highly effective instructional
strategies taught through this project will be expanded to other classrooms
across the districts with expertise sustained at each of the project schools.
"I
am overjoyed by this award, which will allow ArtsNow Learning to work closely
with schools in the Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina regions to
advance teaching and learning through the arts,” said ArtsNow’s President and
CEO, Pamela Walker. “We look forward to positively impacting students,
teachers, and school communities, while growing and deepening the reach of
ArtsNow Learning!"
The
AAEDD Grants Competition specifically supports projects that develop,
disseminate, and integrate high-quality, effective arts-based instructional
materials and educational programming, including online resources, in multiple
arts disciplines that effectively (1) increase access to standards-based arts
education; (2) integrate standards-based arts education into other subjects as
part of a well-rounded education; and (3) improve students’ academic
performance, including their knowledge and skills in creating, performing, and
responding to the arts.
