By Elizabeth Weaver
Intern
Three local educators will travel to the nation’s capital this spring to participate in a national program designed to bring more art education into local schools.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a concert hall and arts organization based in Washington, D.C., selected University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Office of Arts and New Hanover County schools to participate in its 14th Annual Partners in Education Institute, where educators participate in programs that expand teachers’ ability to better promote art in the classroom.
UNCW Office of Arts director Kristen Brogdon, New Hanover County arts coordinator Tim McCoy and art services and residency manager Fidias Reyes will attend the April four-day conference in Washington, D.C.. There, they will work with educators from nearly 100 schools in 42 states to develop art education programs for the local school system that will put more focus on artistic literacy for young people.
“There was so much grassroots support from the people from the school of education here and from people in the New Hanover County Schools that said we really want to be a part of this because it offers a lot of opportunities,” Brogdon said.
At the Partners in Education Institute, the team will collaborate on ideas with other educators to develop programs that focus primarily on two areas, Brogdon said. The first will be to integrate art into the public schools by developing art teaching strategies for a regular classroom setting. The educators will also work to create professional development opportunities for teachers.
From there, New Hanover County schools will work with the Office of the Arts and the Watson Education College to distribute art curriculums to classrooms around the county, Brogdon said.
“There will be a lot happening in Kenan, there will be a lot happening in the Watson College of Education, but the idea is that we are also taking this out into the community and the public schools here,” Brogdon said.
The Kennedy Center, which hosts a variety of arts and theater productions, expanded its Partners in Education Institute this year to include 10 new teams. The program was started in 1976 and now has more than 100 partnership teams nationwide.
UNCW participated in an extensive application process to be considered for the program. Their application consisted of a thorough package with resumes, marketing materials and detailed information about the university.
“We are really proud to be participating in this program and the fact that’s its happening on a national level and that Wilmington, and UNCW, and New Hanover County Schools get to be a part of this really national leader kind of program. It puts us in a really good place,” Brogdon said.
