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In This Issue
- NC CAE Conference Save the Date
- Applications Now Being Accepted for NCDPI Performances and Virtual Visual Arts Galleries
- Empowering Educators and Elevating Outcomes: Growing Success for MLs and The Standards Academy
- FREE NCDEO Webinar - Unpacking the K-12 Dance Standards
*NEW* NC Arts Council Corner
- NC Heritage Awards and Arts Council TAPS Program
- Welcome, J. T. Barber Elementary
 Save the date to join us at the Comprehensive Arts Education Conference on Saturday, September 6th at Meredith College, Raleigh NC.
This day-long conference serves as a statewide professional development opportunity for arts educators, district arts education leaders*, teaching artists, arts integration specialists, and pre-service teachers from across North Carolina working in K-12 programs, independent studios, performing arts organizations, and higher education institutions.
The mission of this conference is to support the three essential components of the North Carolina Comprehensive Arts Education Model: Arts Education, Arts Integration, and Arts Exposure. Sessions will be centered on the four K-12 Arts Education Standards core strands of Connect, Create, Present, and Respond.
Applications for student performances and Virtual Visual Arts Galleries for next school year are now being accepted. Spots fill up quickly – this is a great advocacy tool as Administrators, Superintendents, & School Board Members are informed about the presentation, and work is shared with all stakeholders across the state through our YouTube and social media channels. Encourage your teachers to apply to have their students and program celebrated by NCDPI. Opportunities include:
- Arts in Education Week in September
- December Winter Celebration Performances
- Arts in Our Schools Month in March
The NCDPI Office of Teaching and Learning is hosting two simultaneous and interconnected conferences: The Standards Academy and Growing Success for Multilingual Learners (MLs). These events aim to empower educators and enhance educational outcomes by fostering collaboration among participants from Public School Units (PSUs). Both conferences are free, allowing attendees to move between sessions seamlessly.
The Standards Academy: The Office of Teaching and Learning receives many requests from the field for standards-based professional development. Participants will be guided through all content area standards, from unpacking to instructional practices. These sessions aim to give new and veteran educators a deeper understanding of the Standard Course of Study. In addition, sessions will be provided pertaining to Exceptional Children, honors-level coursework, Digital Teaching and Learning, and CTE.
Growing Success for Multilingual Learners (MLs): This conference is specifically designed for educators committed to fostering enriching learning environments for MLs. It offers tailored sessions for content and ML teachers, administrators, curriculum specialists, and Title III professionals. Join experts from across the state and the Department of Public Instruction to explore strategies for integrating North Carolina English Language Development (ELD) standards into content courses and learn best practices to enhance language proficiency. The conference emphasizes creating meaningful engagement by linking language learning with practical applications, ensuring that ML students thrive academically.
This event provides a unique opportunity for educators to collaborate, exchange best practices, and elevate student outcomes! Don't miss the opportunity to send a school team! Review the conference brochure for more information, and register today!
- June 24-26 West: Buncombe County
- July 22-24 East: Chatham County
- July 25 Virtual Day (Growing Success for MLs only)
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 Welcome to the North Carolina Arts Council Arts Education Corner! The North Carolina Arts Council Arts Education Corner is a new monthly newsletter feature supporting arts educators statewide. Each month, we'll share valuable resources, highlight opportunities for teachers and students, and showcase the incredible work of schools, organizations and teaching artists who are making an impact in their communities.
The 2025 North Carolina Heritage Awards honorees will be celebrated on June 7th at a ceremony at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, in Raleigh. This is the highest award for traditional arts in the state, and it is given to artists who have spent a lifetime honing their craft. As culture bearers, these artists see the importance of passing on this traditional knowledge to keep it alive.
TAPS (Traditional Arts Programs for Students), a program of the North Carolina Arts Council, provides community organizations with funding for after-school programs taught by local traditional artists. This provides an opportunity for artists to pass along generational knowledge to young people, thus uniting communities and keeping traditions alive.
We asked Brandon Johnson, executive director of the Madison County Arts Council, about his experiences with TAPS. Brandon has been a TAPS instructor. “I came to the TAPS program through the Madison County Arts Council's Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program,” he said. “The JAM program is one of our strongest and most loved programs. JAM uses traditional methods to teach young folks the traditional music of the place where they live. Often, a lesson on a new tune comes with a cultural history lesson about past and current ways of life in Madison County. We have seen students start as shy pre-teens and leave the program as confident, skilled performers on multiple instruments with strong presentation and relationship skills. I have served as an instructor in our program and seen the awe-inspiring growth of young folks who leave the program with a cultural grounding, an appreciation of a wide range of music, and a varied toolkit for success in life going forward.”
Many of our current and past Heritage Awards honorees have taught through TAPS, in a classroom, or through private after-school classes. For example, 2025 honorees Loretta and Herman Oxendine traveled among North Carolina tribes, teaching pottery and basket making in schools. Loretta went on to lead a revival of pine-needle basket making among members of the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina, taught for 35 years, first at the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, and later, as one of the first Lumbee teachers in the Lumberton city school system.
“A key reason to pass on cultural knowledge is the joy that it provides,” Brandon told us. “The music, craft, stories, and art of our past define who we are and offer us a blueprint for human connection that has been proven for centuries. By growing in our cultural knowledge, we not only share in the joyful creation of those who have come before us; we also join in their party! When you connect with the cultural knowledge of the past, you become part of the living and growing story of us all.”
Learn more about the 2025 North Carolina Heritage Awards and about the N.C. Arts Council TAPS program.
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For 30 years, our network of schools has taught the state’s mandated curriculum through collaborative and multidisciplinary methods, with the arts woven into every aspect of a child’s learning experience. Through professional development, technical support, and mentoring, each A+ school develops a unique and creative school identity that elevates teacher retention, student engagement, and student achievement.
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North Carolina's Vision for Comprehensive Arts Education
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. (Senate Bill 66: Comprehensive Arts Education Task Force, 2010)
Learn More about Comprehensive Arts Education
NCDPI Arts Education - NCDPI Arts Education Website
@ArtsEdNC - NCDPI Arts Education Twitter
Contact Us!
Laura Stauderman: K-12 Dance and Visual Arts Consultant
Brandon Roeder: K-12 Music and Theatre Arts Consultant
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Disclaimer Statement
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Unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing, NCDPI is not in any way associated with the owner or operator of any of the 3rd Party Websites or responsible or liable for the goods and services offered by them or for anything in connection with such 3rd Party Websites. NCDPI does not endorse and makes no warranties, representations or undertakings relating to the content of any 3rd Party Website.
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