Summer Break and Arts Adventures

Dear colleagues, 

We hope that those of you who are taking summer vacation time in July are enjoying some time for creativity, relaxation, and rest. For teaching artists and summer arts specialists, your programs are most likely in full swing! We've included some resources and opportunities for you to help support your students during your summer art adventures. 

Enjoy! Your work is so important to our students and communities. 

-Shannon Johnson, ODE Arts Specialist

Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages

ODE Arts Education Updates 

Arts Ed Spotlight

ClassroomWISE Resources Released

Our Arts Education Spotlight this month highlights the connection between arts and mental health. The Oregon Department of Education Mental Health in Education Team just released some important resources to support our schools and communities! Read on to learn more. 

Jun 30, 2022

ODE is excited to announce the launch of Oregon Classroom WISE (Oregon CW) – a free, digital learning program, website, video library and resource collection for all Oregonians to increase and strengthen school and community mental health and well-being, and promote care and connection!

Adults play a vital role in promoting youth mental health and well-being, and identifying and responding to their emotional, social and behavioral needs. Many have asked for more education, tools, and/or resources to increase mental health literacy to better support and address the mental health and well-being needs of Oregon’s youth and school staff, and to help foster care and connection.

In response, the Oregon Department of Education has launched Oregon CW as part of a $5.5 million Strengthening Mental Health in Education Initiative, funded by Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER III) Set Aside funds. 

Oregon CW was developed in collaboration with the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Network and the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Its resources include evidence-based, field-tested, individually tailored, learning pathways for administrators, school counselors and other mental health professionals, classroom teachers, families, parents, caregivers and students, and school staff and community based organizations.

Each pathway includes self-paced online learning modules, a video library, resource collection, and a website focused on mental health literacy that aligns with ODE’s strengths-based, trauma- and social-emotional learning- informed, equity-centered Integrated Model of Mental Health. 

Accessing Oregon CW

To access Oregon CW visit  https://healtheknowledge.org/course/view.php?id=743 and follow the steps listed. If you need assistance with registration, navigation, moving through the course, contact the HealtheKnowledge Help Desk for 24/7 email support, as well as weekday chat and phone support: https://hek.zendesk.com/hc/en-us.

We will continue to expand this library of resources based on your feedback, so stay tuned as more content is released in the coming months. 

For more information regarding ODE’s mental health and well-being initiatives please email Dr. B. Grace Bullock at grace.bullock@ode.oregon.gov or the Mental Health in Education team at ODE.Mentalhealth@ode.oregon.gov.

Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages

Summer Food Service Program Offers Free Nutritious Meals to Combat Childhood Hunger

(Salem, Ore.) – The Oregon Department of Education is encouraging Oregon families to take three steps this summer to help combat childhood hunger. To learn more, read the ODE news release. 

Finding Meal Sites

There are more than 700 summer meal sites in Oregon alone. Families can look up meal locations in their area by:

• Calling 2-1-1
• Texting “Food” or “Comida” to 304-304
• Visiting Summer Food Oregon

If you have questions, please contact ODE Child Nutrition Programs - Community Nutrition, at (503) 947-5894 or ode.communitynutrition@ode.oregon.gov.

Photo by Yan Krukov

Educator Opportunities

Invitation to Accessibility Professional Learning Series from ISKME and CAST

ISKME and CAST’s National AEM Center invite teams of educators to learn how to use accessible Open Educational Resources (OER) to make learning more equitable and bust the barriers to learning that millions of learners experience every day. This opportunity is free to educators.

Our joint Accessible OER Academy series is provided at no-cost to educators and will introduce district cohorts to how openly licensed resources can be key levers for both adapting existing resources to increase accessibility and using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to design resources that are accessible for learners with disabilities from the start.

We invite educators from the same district to form a cohort that will join experts in OER and accessibility. Throughout the six-week Academy series, district cohorts will receive access to a curated set of high quality resources to review and adapt for use in their own settings. District cohorts that complete all six sessions will be invited to present at a national summit alongside CAST and ISKME. Each individual participant of the Academy will receive a certificate of completion. Each team will submit one application.

Apply as a team by September 13th. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Soriano (msoriano@cast.org).

Youth Opportunities

Oregon Tribal Student Grant

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) is excited to announce that the application is now open for the Oregon Tribal Student Grant for 2022-23, a new state financial aid program supported by the Oregon Legislature’s 2022 historic investment in equitable college access and success for tribal students. The Oregon Tribal Student Grant is expected to pay for most or all public college-related expenses—including tuition, housing, books, and other costs not covered by other grants—for eligible students who are enrolled members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized Tribes. It can be applied toward undergraduate or graduate study at Oregon public colleges and universities as well as eligible private non-profit institutions, where award amounts can go up to the public institution maximum level, in the upcoming 2022-23 school year. The HECC Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC) will administer the grant, and encourages tribal students to apply by the priority application deadline of August 1, 2022. For more information and how to promote this opportunity visit the Oregon Tribal Student Grant webpage.

Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages

Artist, Arts Organization and Partner Opportunities

Attention 21st CCLC Grant Recipients

You for Youth Summer Symposium: Strong You, Strong Me, Strong Community

Register now!

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) is pleased to announce that registration for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) 2022 Summer Symposium is now open!   

This three-day event provides State education agencies (SEAs) and their grantees with plenary sessions and workshops on successful strategies for implementing and managing all components of the program. It also offers an opportunity for the Department to provide important updates regarding the 21st CCLC program. The Symposium’s sessions are a combination of large-group presentations with nationally recognized speakers and smaller interactive workshops where attendees have the chance to work closely with education experts. This year’s Symposium will be held virtually on July 19-21.  

Register now for the Summer Symposium at http://21stcclc.leedmci.com/. 

Feel free to forward this link to your colleagues.  

Art Center East's 7th Annual Fiber Arts and Jewelry Exhibit

February and March 2023 brings the Seventh Annual Fiber Arts & Jewelry Exhibit, showcasing local and regional fiber and jewelry artists and celebrating this underrepresented branch of the visual arts.

Art Center East invites you to enter your work in the Seventh Annual Fiber Arts & Jewelry Exhibit. The 2023 exhibit theme is "Living Rural: Poetry in Fiber”. Artists are encouraged to relate their artwork submissions to a poem or poems — published or unpublished — of their choice.

Each artist may submit up to five (5) fiber or jewelry pieces that incorporate any poem(s) of their choosing. Each artwork submitted may relate to a separate poem or multiple submissions may relate to the same poem.

Exhibit dates: February 3 - March 25, 2023

Fiber Arts & Jewelry Exhibit Application