Arts Education News Updates
The Fifth Annual Superintendent's Holiday Card Contest
CLICK HERE to see ALL this year's entries!
Want to support arts education? Arts ARE Education is a new national campaign in support of arts education for all students asserts that the arts
are part of a balanced education and asks signees to commit to supporting equitable access to arts education that includes instruction in
all arts areas. Anyone or any organization can sign it.
In the Fall of 2020, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) joined 52 other organizations in a statement that supports an arts education for all students.
In the statement, “Arts Education Is Essential,” the signing organizations convey that the arts have already played a pivotal and uplifting role during the health crisis, and that arts education can help all students, including those who are in traditionally underrepresented groups, as students return to school. “Arts Education Is Essential” speaks to arts education’s role in supporting the social and emotional well-being of students, an area that administrators, educators, and parents have highlighted as essential to student safety and success during the pandemic and as students return to school, whether in-person, online, or in a blended fashion. Arts education also creates a welcoming school environment and a healthy and inclusive school community, helping students, educators, parents, and the community at large build and strengthen their connectedness during this time of social isolation and social distancing.
Aligning to North Carolina's Comprehensive Arts Education Plan
In December 2010, Senate Bill 66 directed the State Board of Education to appoint a task force of members from the Department of Public Instruction and the Department of Cultural Resources to create a Comprehensive Arts Education Development Plan for the public schools of North Carolina.
In today’s globally competitive world, innovative thinking and creativity are essential for all school children. High quality, standards-based instruction in the arts develops these skills and effectively engages, retains, and prepares future-ready students for graduation and success in an entrepreneurial economy. Dance, music, theatre arts, and visual arts, taught by licensed arts educators and integrated throughout the curriculum, are critical to North Carolina’s 21st century education.
The S66 Task Force recognizes a Comprehensive Arts Education Plan to include the following three components:
- Arts Education (arts as core, academic subjects)
- Arts Integration (arts as a catalyst for learning across the curriculum)
- Arts Exposure (exposure to arts experiences)
