Category Archives: Arts For Children
Spring Cleaning…Instrument Drive
The Rockford Public Schools has re-instated the Middle School Music Program and hundreds of kids signed up for band and orchestra next year. They need instruments and donations to restore them.
My Bundy Flute has made it through fifteen moves. My parents bought it for me in fourth grade and I once loved it. I taught myself how to play tunes from my favorite television shows and used it for anger management after fights with my brothers.
In Middle School I decided flutes were too plentiful, switched to Bassoon and learned how to play the creepy Alfred Hitchcock theme. Bassoons …
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Posted in Arts Events, Arts For Children, Education, Rockford School District
Tagged Musical Instruments
Why the Arts? Survival of the Species.
Depending on the website, March 11-17 was “Illinois Arts in Education Week” (as Mayor Morrissey proclaimed at city council), or the whole month of March is “Illinois Arts in Education Month”, OR nation-wide it’s September. Some states opt for April or May.
Regardless of when it is observed, the message is the same: If we want our children to receive the best education possible, that education has to include the arts. Longitudinal studies conducted by the US Department of Education show statistical evidence of increased academic success by those students who participated in long-term sequential study in one or more …
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Instrument Petting Zoo…step in the right direction
Yellow school buses were parked in front of Riverfront Museum Park when I arrived yesterday. Fifth grade students from King Elementary piled out. There was a sign on the door that I might have overlooked, but one of the girls screamed when she saw it. “Hey, look! They made a sign for us!”
All week, District 205 fifth grade students have boarded buses to go on an Instrument Petting Zoo field trip. They touched, blew, plucked, and strummed instruments as an interactive promotion for the middle school instrumental music program.
A former Auburn graduate, greeted the students and told them …
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The Arts, Miracles, & Impressive Shopping…
This week I spoke at the Kiwanis lunch meeting. Our CEO, Anne O’Keefe, had a conflict and asked me to speak on her behalf about the Rockford Area Arts Council, our mission, and what we do. She assured me they were a fun group and she was right, so my nerves were only jumping hurdles instead of vaulting the high jump.
Before I ever spoke, they sang songs. One member showed a video of a dog with man hands eating at a dining room table (told you they were a fun group), and the wall behind me was a painted …
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Posted in Arts Advocacy, Arts Events, Arts For Children, Arts for youth, City of Rockford
Beyond the test…
When I was a kid I loved standardized tests. It was like a day off from school. We took a test, and had recess. We took another test and had another recess. If we were done early we read a book or looked out the window without getting yelled at. There was no homework the night before and the teacher told us not to worry about it. “Get a good night’s sleep and bring a No. 2 pencil.”
One year I made patterns on the score sheet instead of reading and answering the questions. The teacher gave me an odd look …
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Posted in Arts For Children, Arts for youth, Education, Rockford School District
Tagged Arts Assessment
