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The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) reports that ESSER III funds can used for a wide variety of activities that are currently authorized under federal well-rounded education programs such as those enumerated in the Every Student Succeeds Act. More specifically, these funds can be used for professional development, educational technology, supplies, facilities, and after school/summer programs.
The U.S. Department of Education specifically encourages prospective grantees to describe how the use of ESSER III funds will support increased school attendance, and access to high-quality out-of-school or extended learning programs. To this end, AEP has a collection of dozens of research studies that can help support applications. You can find out more by clicking on the button below this text.
On Friday, March 22, the finalists for Iowa’s annual Teacher of the Year recognition were celebrated in a luncheon, hosted by the Iowa Department of Education, at the Iowa Culinary Institute on DMACC’s Ankeny Campus.
Among those recognized was Daniel Black, music educator at Kirn Middle School in Council Bluffs. Black currently teaches middle school orchestra, modern band, and guitar. His innovative program offerings—rolled out in Fall of 2020—have dramatically increased music course enrollment at Kirn.
On Saturday, March 23, the Iowa Thespians welcomed 145 middle school students to the Junior Thespian Festival—the first experience of its kind since before the pandemic. It was my absolute joy to attend this event on behalf of the Iowa Department of Education.
The day opened with a joyful and interactive keynote address by thespian and former teacher Stephanie Netzger. Next, junior thespians from Waukee—the host school—put on two Wizard-of-Oz-inspired mini productions. These experiences set the stage for a remarkable day of theatre education.
Next, students were divided into four groups who rotated through workshops intended to introduce and practice sewing skills, improvisation, character building, and mime. These workshops were led by Bre Kenney (Teacher, Theatre Cedar Rapids), Evan Hilsabeck (Managing Director, Coralville Center for the Performing Arts), Zane McSheehy (Student, ISU Department of Music and Theatre), and Kevin Hosbond (Teacher, Grinnell-Newburg High School).
It is the intent of the Iowa Thespians to have regular junior festivals in the coming years; if you are interested in bringing your students to any Iowa Thespians events, please visit https://www.iowathespians.org.
On Saturday, March 23, I was honored to provide the opening address at the annual Youth Art Show at Jordan Creek Town Center. Each year, the Art Educators of Iowa (AEI) and the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) host this juried art show to celebrate Youth Art Month—a celebration of the importance of art and arts education programs. This year’s show was also sponsored by Dick Blick.
The artworks considered for this show were curated by AEI members who selected as many as ten artworks to represent their schools. Those artworks were then submitted to adjudicators who selected the final examples that were displayed at Jordan Creek Town Center from February 25 to March 23—selections considered “Best in Show” were also displayed at the Governor’s office prior to the March 23 event.
Visit artedia.org to learn more about events like these.
On Monday, March 25, I had the pleasure of visiting the classroom of Morgan Singleton (Clarke Community Schools 6-12 art teacher, Iowa Fine Arts Education Leadership Team member, and current president of Art Educators of Iowa). Here are some takeaways for Iowa’s visual art educators:
- Singleton has created many demonstration videos which she keeps on her Weebly site. These allow her to "rewind" when students need to hear/see something again, and they allow her to circulate and provide feedback and differentiated instruction—as all students can continue to build skills from the video—while her attention is on an individual student. Additionally, she doesn't really have a need for a document camera or demonstration mirror because her demos are already projectable.
- Because Singleton's middle school art students are still developing the skills that will take them into high school studio art and advanced studio art, ensuring that every child has an unobstructed view of her demonstrations is very important. To that end, Singleton has raised some of her tables and stools to effectively create tiered seating. This included raising some adjustable tables and using weighted bed risers to raise others. These modifications resulted in low tables, medium-height tables, and high tables that, combined with her no seating chart environment, allow Singleton’s students to do what works best for their artistic needs and physical preferences (even allowing standing for those kids who prefer it).
- Several other features of Singleton’s classroom environment are also worth sharing. First, the walls are black. Creating art can be messy business, and the black walls hide nearly all evidence of that! Second, some of her ceiling tiles have been painted by student artists. Third, many of her instructive wall hangings (i.e., for monotyping, gesture drawing, watercolor techniques, etc.) were not only in English and Spanish, but they also included QR codes that linked to videos of artists using the techniques displayed on the visuals.
- Finally, Singleton uses colored dots on her print resource library to help her students reshelve books after they use them. These include multiple colors that quickly distinguish her 2D, 3D, graphic design/digital art, photography, and art history books that kids use for inspiration.
If you would like your work to be highlighted in this newsletter, please contact Kris VerSteegt via phone (515-371-0410) or email (kris.versteegt@iowa.gov) to schedule a visit.
On Friday, April 5, leadership from the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) unveiled the results of their Customized Arts Learning (CAL) Toolkit project at the National Arts Education Association Conference in Minneapolis.
The CAL toolkit supports personalized learning in arts education and promotes culturally affirming and sustaining instructional practice in arts education. The CAL toolkit is intended to provide educators with resources to support the needs of diverse populations, thus addressing gaps that impair learning. CAL focuses on inclusivity through arts learning as a bridge to academic learning and interpersonal development.
The project was made possible by grant funding through the National Endowment for the Arts.
David Haas—director of the Iowa City West High School Treble Choir and Iowa City West Singers—is sharing his knowledge and passion for digital music production at Iowa City West High School. This work, made possible by grant funds from the Iowa City Community School District Foundation and HAVLife that purchased Logic Pro and MIDI workstations, attracts nearly 100 students each year—most of whom are not otherwise enrolled in music classes or ensembles. In his classes, David’s students create and produce their own music with synthesized voices and instruments, digital sampling, and with their own voices and instruments. Kudos to David for pioneering this coursework at West!
If you would like your work to be highlighted in this newsletter, please contact Kris VerSteegt via phone (515-371-0410) or email (kris.versteegt@iowa.gov) to schedule a visit.
On Monday, May 6, the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education hosted John Lloyd Young at Noce Jazz Club in Des Moines. The evening was filled with mid-century standards sung with breathtaking brilliance as well as joyful commentary of Young’s amazing life after starring as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys both on Broadway and in the feature film. Mr. Young’s collaborative pianist, David Duncan, was also quite a treat.
Proceeds from the event benefit Iowa’s Model of Excellence Mentoring Program for beginning fine arts teachers. Supporting early-career fine arts educators is a passion project for Mr. Young who donated his time and talents to the event. His in-kind contribution to the mentoring program will also be matched by the Iowa Department of Education as part of our continued commitment to Iowa Fine Arts Educators.
You can find out more regarding the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education by visiting their website at iowaalliance4artsed.org.
On May 9-11, the Iowa Bandmasters Association (IBA) held their annual conference in Des Moines. The conference featured a keynote address by Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser as well as myriad sessions regarding assessment and grading, advocacy, concert band techniques and repertoire selection, creating a positive culture in the ensemble classroom, Jazz, marching band techniques and pedagogy, instrumental methods, technology, instrument repair, and more!
If you are interested in attending future IBA events, see bandmasters.org for more details.
The Iowa String Teachers Association (ISTA) Conference was held last month on the beautiful campus of Wartburg College in Waverly. The three-day conference followed a hybrid format (i.e., sessions on May 9 were virtual, virtual and in-person sessions were held on May 10, and in-person sessions—in conjunction with the State Honors Orchestra—were held on May 11). If you are interested in attending future ISTA events, see their website for more details.
The Waukee Community School District held its Fine and Performing Arts Signing Day on Wednesday, May 15 at the Prairieview Theatre Arts Center. This event honored seniors graduating from Waukee High School and Northwest High School who have made formal commitments to study Visual Art, Music, Theatre, or Dance at the post-secondary level as either a major or minor.
Waukee’s Fine and Performing Arts Signing Day is one event within a growing national movement to spotlight the arts as a viable post-secondary field of study. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Arts and Culture sector of the U.S. economy is a $730 billion industry—larger than transportation, tourism, and agriculture.
Photo credit: Brayden Strobel, Waukee Northwest High School Tenth Street Times
If you would be interested in celebrating your committed fine and performing arts majors and minors with a signing day of your own, please contact Kris VerSteegt at 515-371-0410 or kris.versteegt@iowa.gov for further details.
On Thursday, May 30, students from multiple Iowa high school drama programs shared highlights from their various productions on the Des Moines Civic Center stage. The students, who had the opportunity to work under the direction of a guest music director, Christopher D. Littlefield, and choreographer, Tiger Brown—both from New York City—were also celebrated for their work in performance, technical theatre, and creative categories.
The showcase is an annual event. If you would like to receive scheduling and ticketing information about future experiences like this, or if you would like to access more specifics about this year’s event (e.g., participating schools, adjudicators, etc.) please visit desmoinesperformingarts.org/ihsmta.
The Iowa Alliance for Arts Education will be holding its biennial Arts Education Leadership Institute at the Gateway Conference Center in Ames on June 13-14, 2024. This event is a professional development opportunity for up-and-coming arts educators whose leadership has been acknowledged through nominations by the Art Educators of Iowa, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Iowa Choral Directors Associations, Iowa Music Educators Association, Iowa String Teachers Association and Iowa Thespians. The participants will be given leadership training and networking opportunities to become more effective advocates for arts education in schools, communities, and state-wide organizations.
The event is funded by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council and the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education.
The biennial Iowa Arts Summit is Iowa’s leading professional development opportunity for Iowa’s artists and creative community. The summit brings together Iowa’s most innovative and creative minds, nonprofit professionals, and community leaders to share and learn how to transform organizations and communities through the creative arts.
This event will be held at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny on June 18. You can register for this event by clicking the button below.
On July 22-25, the Iowa Choral Directors Association (ICDA) will host their Summer Symposium. This year's event--themed "Homecoming"--will mark the 50th annual Summer Symposium for ICDA. You can expect inspiring performances, insightful reading sessions, and informative professional development for choral music educators at this four-day conference. Visit iowachoral.org for registration information and session schedule.
The Iowa Communication Association will hold their annual conference on September 27-28.
The Art Educators of Iowa will hold their annual conference on September 27-28.
The Iowa High School Speech Association will hold their annual conference on October 11-12.
The Iowa Thespians Festival will be held November 7-8.
Iowa will host the American Orff Schulwerk Association national conference November 13-16.
The Iowa Music Educators Association will hold their annual conference November 21-23.
The Iowa All-State Music Festival Concert is scheduled for November 23.
Kris VerSteegt, PhD
Education Program Consultant, Fine Arts
Bureau of Learner Strategies and Supports
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
400 E 14th St
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-371-0410
kris.versteegt@iowa.gov
https://educate.iowa.gov
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