| Dancing,
storytelling, music, drama. When one thinks of the word ‘art,’
these aren’t always the things that come to mind.
This week, five artists are showing Owen County Elementary School
students that art is more than just something you look at.
The artists were brought to the school by the School-Community-Arts-Parents-Partnership
(SCAPP) grant. They are John Harrod, Bonnie Strassel, Alfredo
Escobar, Dick Albin and Phillip Cherry. This is the first year
of the three-year program.
In the first year, $3,000 is administered by the Kentucky Arts
Council. The school board, Owen County Arts Council and Elk Creek
Vineyards all donated $500 and other donations came from the Owen
County Chamber of Commerce, Owen Electric and the Michael Francis
Zalla Foundation.
Rebekah Siegel had the initial idea to apply for the grant. She
has been employed through the Kentucky Arts Council and when she
found out about the grant she thought it would be a good idea
for Owen County.
“I think that arts are essential,” Siegel said. “They
are a needed tool for teaching today.”
Siegel said that she has seen studies that show a direct connection
between absorption of material and using art activities.
The Arts Council has since phased out the SCAPP grant and
Owen County was in the last group of schools to receive it.
Joan Goderwis is a member of the Owen County Elementary School
Arts Committee and represents the library — one of the partners
in the grant. She said the grant works to prove a strong partnership
between the school, community and artists. While the elementary
school is the only county school currently using the grant, Goderwis
said the committee is working on expanding the program to the
other schools.
“(That has been) our plan all along,” she said, “
to work with all of the schools.”
Ellen Engelman is responsible for starting the art committee.
She previously attended the Commonwealth Institute for Parent
Leadership, which works to “equip parents with the tools
to be involved in schools.”
She had to design a project for schools in areas needing improvement.
At that time it was the arts at the elementary. As someone who
was already interested in the arts herself, she was happy to find
that art teacher Mrs. Michels and Rob Stafford – the elementary
school principal at the time – were advocates of the arts
as well.
The biannual Arts Extravaganza began in 2003, the same year the
arts committee was formed. Since then the Extravaganza takes place
every other year.
“It’s important to expose kids in this district to
arts programming,” Engelman said.
Growing up in northern Kentucky, Engelman said she always went
to the museum, symphony and plays.
“Here it takes a day to go somewhere, so people don’t
do it a lot,” she said. “If we can bring some of that
to them. . .”
Engelman said she likes the idea that with the program this week,
every child in the elementary school will be working with professionals.
Something similar has been done in years past, but this is the
first year five artists have participated. Also new this year
is the “Night With the Arts,” an event set to take
place Thursday night where the students can show their parents
and community members what they have learned during the week.
Engelman said she hopes the night allows the community and parents
to see that the artists have been here all week and encourage
them to support things like this in the future.
“I think it will be great to do again,” Engelman said.
The SCAPP team has three goals for the county: “to make
arts opportunities a constant element in our schools for students,
teachers, parents and family members; to make arts events available
and accessible on a regular basis to Owen Countians; and to create
an increased awareness and appreciation of the arts in Owen County.”
“It’s a truly collaborative effort,” said Owen
County Elementary School principal Charlotte Elkins.
Elkins said she believes the project is innovative, in that she
doesn’t know of any other schools that do anything like
it. She likes the fact that all of the genres are being covered
as well.
“It gives our kids the chance to see that you can make a
career out of a talent,” Elkins said.
Students were put with each artist based on their interest in
the area and their skill level. While some of the information
they will learn this week will help them with core content on
CATS tests, the artists were not brought to the school for that
reason. Each of the artists have had e-mail and phone contact
with the teacher in their respective areas and know what the teachers
expect them to cover.
“The teachers have worked hard to make sure (this is) something
the kids enjoy,” Elkins said.
The students meet with the artists during the time of day when
they would have their regular activities.
“This time of year, we can’t mess up a regular day,”
Elkins said.
Some groups have as few as 15 kids, allowing for more one-on-one
interaction between the artist and students. In addition to being
an important core content lesson, Elkins said it’s important
that the students see they can take a talent they have and do
something they love.
“I read somewhere that if a fourth-grader can’t tell
you what they want to do when they grow up (even if it’s
just them wanting to be a wrestler or something), then they are
more likely to drop out when they get to high school,” Elkins
said.
She said she likes the idea that the kids are interacting with
working artists so they “see other options.”
“They need to have these experiences,” she said.
March is also “Music in Our Schools Month.” In addition
to the artists, this week the students will also get to see performances
by student groups from Northern Kentucky University.
NKU is bringing a comedy improv group, a Broadway group and a
jazz group to Owen County Elementary on Friday. They will be at
the school from 9 to 10:30 a.m. This is the third year NKU has
done this program with the school.
Phillip Cherry taught Owen County students about drama and the
performing arts. This is the first time he has been to the county.
“The kids have a great enthusiasm,” Cherry said.
Cherry has a history of working with kids, spending time as an
instructor at the Youth Performing Arts School and Walden Theater
in Louisville.
“I hope the kids understand the importance of arts,”
he said, “and retain the information.”
Now working as a professional actor in Oregon, Cherry said he
spends eight weeks a year working with different school programs,
but only in Kentucky. His programs are booked through New Performing
Arts, based in Louisville.
Most recently, Cherry has finished filming a movie called “Feast
of Love,” starring Morgan Freeman, due in theaters early
next year. At the end of this week, he will return to Los Angeles,
where he will spend the summer performing in Shakespeare’s
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
But for now, Cherry is enjoying himself.
“Education has always been a big part of my family,”
he said. “I love working with kids. It’s not something
I will ever totally abandon.”
Alfredo Escobar, a visual artist from Berea, has worked with schools
for eight years. This is his fourth time working with OCES. Escobar
currently has an exhibit open at Elk Creek Winery.
During the week, he will be working with students on poster art
that will be featured in the Art Extravaganza on May 18. The event
will last from 6 to 8 p.m. at the elementary school. The students
will help to design 80 posters that will be up in the school and
around town.
Escobar said he doesn’t want the students to be apprehensive
about not being able to do the art, and said he wants to pull
as much creativity out of them as he can.
“Art isn’t just drawing,” he said. “There
are professionals, and you can make a living.”
He said he hopes to teach the students that it can be fun. He
enjoys working with the administration as well, saying OCES is
one of the few schools he knows of that “just clicks.”
Though some may say living in a rural area is a disadvantage when
it comes to the arts, Escobar thinks otherwise. He sees rural
areas as having an advantage.
“They’re not exposed to distractions and don’t
have as many worries,” he said. “They can be more
creative and observant.”
John Harrod, a former Owen County educator, is working with the
students on dance this week. In addition to the steps, he said
he wants to bring in some history as well, teaching the students
the social context of dance.
“It helps them appreciate the fact that people can entertain
themselves,” Harrod said. “It gets people working
together.”
Harrod said dance is good for timing and coordination. He said
it also helps boys and girls learning to treat each other with
respect at an age where they’re usually scared of each other.
Dance is something Harrod said is just beginning to be revived
in elementary schools.
“In today’s world, if schools don’t (teach it),
it doesn’t get done,” he said.
In the time he will spend with the students this week, Harrod
said he hopes they have fun. He also wants them to realize they
can have a good time by themselves. He sees dance as part of practical
living, in a healthy and socially positive way.
Storyteller Bonnie Strassel has been a professional storyteller
for 13 years and a historical re-enactor for 25. She is another
artist familiar with OCES, having been a part of the annual fifth-grade
Colonial Days event.
“Everybody’s a storyteller,” Strassel said.
“Everyone has a story.”
Usually in costume, Strassel said she likes to use visual effects
with her stories, believing that it helps to pull in the listeners’
attention.
“When you tell a story, you touch the soul,” she said.
Her goal for the week is to have the students turn off the television
one night during the week and spend time with their families,
telling stories. She said the idea that “we all have stories”
reflects who we are, and it is important that the students learn
sharing as well, because “that is what stories are about.”
Strassel said the students she’s working with have been
very receptive to everything so far and also very involved. She
teaches them how they can tell a story about anything, and they
have been eager to share a few. She also sees storytelling as
an important way to help students remember things and develop
vocabulary.
“(Kids have) lost so much vocabulary because of visual things
(like TV),” she said. “When you use your imagination,
the brain develops so much better.”
Dick Albin, a musician from Bowling Green, has been an entertainer
for 25 years. Performing at concerts, folk festivals, and writing
songs are just a few things Albin does.
He started working with schools 17 years ago, holding folk, theater
and storytelling workshops. While he plays the banjo, dulcimer
and guitar, he said he concentrates a lot on the dulcimer because
it was one of the first instruments played in Kentucky.
In working with the students this week, Albin said he wants them
to realize that all things are based on old things, for example,
rap music – which many believe is a new style – originated
in the 1920s and 1930s. Albin tells the kids to imagine they are
on a rocket ship, leaving the planet, and to decide what music
from today they will take with them. He also discusses how cultures
mix together in terms of music.
“I want them to have a better understanding of ‘who
am I and who are we?’” he said.
The “Night at the Arts” event is Thursday night from
6 to 8:30 pm. at Owen County Elementary School.
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