March Newsletter
Performances, Contests, and Exhibitions
March, April, and May are full of performances, contests, and exhibitions for fine arts educators across the state! It can be overwhelming to take care of your own events, but try to attend the events of your colleagues as well. We always appreciate the extra support. If you can't attend, send an email of encouragement in advance or a congratulatory email afterward. All fine arts teachers deserve a little boost - reach out and lift someone up!
March 8th - Youth Arts Day
On March 8th, we will be celebrating Youth Arts Day at the Capitol. Please consider joining us! There will be music performances, art displays, information from arts organizations, dramatic performances, and more! The ceremony will be held from 10-11 AM on the 4th floor rotunda and will include speeches from legislators as well as student performances and art work. Information from OAEA is here.
March is Music in our Schools month, Theatre in our Schools month, Dance in our Schools month, and Youth Art month.
March is a great time to remind your students of the importance of the arts in their lives. Here are a few activities to celebrate music!
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Teacher/instrument match-up: Email your staff and ask them what instrument(s) they play. Create a bulletin board with teacher names and instruments - students try to match teacher names with instruments. This could be a class activity or a school contest.
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Transition Music: Ask administration for permission to play music over the intercom system during transition times. Have your students create a playlist for a day (be sure all songs are school appropriate). Coordinate with the office staff to allow certain students to play music from their phones during transitions. Another option could be to create a playlist of music your students have been working on and share it with the office. Ask if they will play the songs before or after school.
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All-school sing along! Make a list of well-known songs from the American songbook - you could include: Oklahoma, The Star-Spangled Banner, Take me out to the Ballgame, Do Re Mi, This Land is your Land, etc. Have an all-school assembly the Friday afternoon before spring break and sing together! Add song lyrics to a slideshow so students and invited community members can sing along. You could even ask local musicians or your ukelele or drumming groups to accompany the songs.
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Music Interviews: Give your students some questions to ask family members over spring break such as - What were some of your favorite singers or groups to listen to when you were growing up? Do you still like this music? What was your favorite song? What does it mean to you? Did you go to concerts? Have students listen to the music on YouTube and report back to the class what they thought about the choices. To keep things interesting, require the interviewee be over 50 (more likely to have different musical tastes from today's students).
Engage OK 2019
The OSDE's summer professional development workshop is back! Please join us for a free day of learning and connection with your colleagues! There will be an all-day fine arts track at Bixby and Southmoore with sessions focusing on music, visual art, and drama/theatre. Though dance-specific sessions will not be available, dance educators are also encouraged to attend general fine arts sessions and any other sessions they find valuable.
- Monday, July 15 – EngageOK Woodward
- Tuesday, July 16 – EngageOK Lawton
- Wednesday, July 17 – EngageOK Durant
- Thursday, July 18 – EngageOK Bixby
- Tuesday, July 23 – EngageOK Southmoore
Fine arts sessions will be available at all sites, but the most comprehensive sessions will be at Bixby and Southmoore. A detailed schedule will be available later in the spring. We'll see you in July!
 Good Reads
Extra Arts Education Boosts Students’ Writing Scores — and their Compassion
The HBO Documentary ‘Song Of Parkland’ Makes an Airtight Case for Keeping the Arts in Schools
Stop Obsessing over Talent—Everyone can Sing
Did you know?...The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose core mission includes a focus on education. For decades, schools across the state have taken advantage of grant funding from the Oklahoma Arts Council to bring teaching artists to their schools for short term residencies, professional development, or other projects. Most schools in the state are eligible to apply for up to two grants per year, with a maximum award of $2500 each. Requiring a cash match from schools of only 10 percent (5 percent for alternative education sites), the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Small Grant Support for Schools program makes it possible for you to affordably provide students opportunities to nurture their creative and critical thinking skills through hands-on arts instruction. This funding may enhance an existing arts program or it may help teachers meet state mandated requirements for fine arts. The Oklahoma Arts Council also offers a vetted roster of more than 30 teaching artists in a variety of artistic disciplines – from ceramics and painting to ballroom dance and African drumming – available for you to contact. For qualifying arts education projects, grant funding from the Oklahoma Arts Council may cover most of the expense of a guest artist’s time and supplies. Grants are available on a rolling deadline of no later than 60 days before the start of your project, so they are accepted all year long.
To learn more about the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Small Grant Support for Schools program, visit arts.ok.gov or contact their Arts Education Director, Jennifer Allen-Barron, at (405) 521-2036 or jennifer.allen-barron@arts.ok.gov. Be sure to review criteria and timelines before applying for a grant.
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The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art (Shawnee) is offering two free Visual Thinking Strategies workshops free to Oklahoma teachers:
- Friday, March 8, 9 AM - 4 PM
- Saturday, March 9, 9 AM - 4 PM
Grant funding has covered the cost of workshop tuition for all teachers--it's FREE!
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is grounded in 30 years of research and more than 12 years of testing. Though this method uses art to act as a focus for student-led discussions. Once students become comfortable with VTS, the method can be used to analyze literature, poetry, written instructions, diagrams, math problems, graphs, charts, scientific illustrations, and more!
Empirical data has revealed that students make significant improvements in critical thinking and more after only practicing VTS 10 times—that’s once a month, for thirty minutes, during the school year.
Register Online
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact: Donna L. Merkt, Curator of Education, dlmerkt@mgmoa.org (405) 878-5605 (Direct Line)
Greetings from the Oklahoma City Zoo!
We are excited to launch our annual Dr Pepper Vending Machine Art Contest. Below is the official press release announcing this year’s contest. As you will read, Oklahoma students in grades K-12 are eligible to win wild prizes and the chance to have their original art design on a Dr Pepper machine at the OKC Zoo for an entire year! All submissions must be postmarked by March 25, 2019. Official entry forms are available online at www.okczoo.org/drpeppercontest.
If you have any questions or need any additional information about the contest feel free to contact Candice Rennels, crennels@okczoo.org or (405) 425-0298.
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Art teachers! Did you know that your students can have their work on display at the Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center galleries during the 2019 Oklahoma State Fair AND that $6,500 in cash and Hobby Lobby cards is presented for art supplies?
So, now you want to know: how much does it cost to enter? Nothing. Zip. Nada. And the first 10 schools to complete their entries will each receive a $100 Hobby Lobby card for art supplies.
Go to the OSAE website for complete information. Think it can’t get any better? We also present five visual art scholarships (total of $5,500 plus matching funds if they attend UCO or OKCU) to graduating seniors from participating schools. Don’t miss out! Entry opens on March 6 at 9 a.m.
The Western Governors’ Association is proud to announce the fourth annual “Celebrate the West” regional art competition is now open.
Entrants from WGA member states will create original two-dimensional artwork inspired by their state or informed by living in the West. Students may draw ideas from a variety of sources, including state history, landmarks, natural resources, National Parks and Monuments, people, communities and culture.
Students should submit a digital copy of their entry via email by April 30, 2019. More information is available on the WGA website.
March 1-29 - Youth Arts Month, OAEA
April 1-30 - Mid-Del Public Schools, Ranell Zurmehly
May 1-31 - Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, ODOT
A virtual art gallery is available on the SDE Fine Arts website for students and families who would like to see pictures of their work in the OSDE (Oliver Hodge) Building.
March 8, 2019 - Youth Arts Day at the Capitol
March 8, 2019 - VTS Workshop at Mabee-Gehrer Museum
March 9, 2019 - VTS Workshop at Mabee-Gehrer Museum
March 14-16, 2019 - NAEA National Convention
March 25, 2019 - Deadline for OKC Zoo Vending Machine Art Contest
March 29, 2019 - Youth Art Month Ceremony at SDE
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