Celebration for Arts in our Schools this March!

March is a time to celebrate the impact of arts education in our schools. Arts disciplines and national organizations host campaigns including Dance in our Schools Month, Music in our Schools Month, Theatre in our Schools Month, and Youth Art Month! 

Some ideas to honor arts education in Oregon schools this month:

• Convene! Bring students, families, and community together for a collaborative event featuring the arts at your school!
• Communicate! Share about the benefits of the arts with your community - ODE’s Communicating the Benefits of Arts Education could be a helpful resource for data and research.
• Connect! with your statewide arts education organizations for professional development, advocacy ideas, community, and support!
  • Oregon Arts Education Association
  • Oregon Dance Education Organization
  • Oregon Music Education Association
  • Oregon Theatre Educators Association
• Collaborate! Share amazing work happening in your arts classroom with your student's biggest art fans - their families! Share what you're creating through a newsletter or letter out to families. ODE’s Arts Learning Family Letter Template can get you started!
• Finally, Congratulate! Share a note, song, drawing or performance of gratitude for an arts teacher in your life! Visual arts, music, dance, theatre, and media arts teachers provide invaluable support and learning opportunities for our students in Oregon, and our students and schools are so lucky to have your creativity, commitment, and brilliance. Thank you! 

Photo Caption: Students Dancing at DaVinci Arts Middle School

February Arts Education Resources: Celebrating the Contributions of Women in the Arts

Celebrate Women’s History Month this March, and all year round, by exploring the women artists who have changed history through the arts! The National Gallery of Art’s Uncovering America series offers lesson plan resources about Women and Art, the National Women’s History Museum has an arts and culture resource collection to explore stories of women artists, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts offers free teacher resources, including lesson plans and a collection of diverse women artists to explore!

Illustration Credit: Illustration of Guerrilla Girls by Sandra Muller, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Note: Unless hosted, facilitated, or published by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these resources have not been endorsed by ODE, but are being shared as relevant opportunities for arts education professionals to consider.

National Coalition for Arts Standards (NCAS) Announces Review of National Arts Standards

Eleven years after the release of the National Arts Standards in 2014, the National Coalition for Arts Standards (NCAS) will launch a thorough survey to collect data on the National Standards for dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.

The National Arts Standards have played and continue to play an integral role in improving and supporting arts education for America's students. With nearly all states having revised the state’s arts education standards since 2014, this review process will help us gather the latest knowledge, research, and best practices while addressing the evolving needs of the nation’s students and ensure that the arts remain central to a well-rounded education.

To best inform decision-making and to ensure transparency in the review, all arts educators, thought partners, education and arts organizations, and stakeholders with interests in arts education are asked to provide critical feedback to guide the process.

Your participation is vital to shaping the future of arts education. Please complete the public input survey by May 16, 2025. Additional information and ways to be involved will be shared in the coming months.

If you have any questions, please email contact@nationalartsstandards.org.

Free Schnitzer Collection Tours Available

Book a free tour of amazing artwork! The Schnitzer Collection invites educators and students to explore rotating exhibitions drawn from the over 22,000 artworks in their teaching collection. They offer complimentary visits, convenient parking with easy bus access, guided tours, and engaging activities. Exhibitions are primarily designed for middle school students and above.

Location: 3033 NW Yeon Avenue, Portland, OR 97210

• Group Reservation Form
• Images of all the art in the current show "A Fountain of Creativity"

Educator Reservation Hours: Tuesday–Friday, during all school hours. These times are exclusively reserved for class visits.

Public Hours: 

• Tuesday–Friday: 3–5 p.m.
• Saturday: 12–5 p.m.
• First Thursdays: 3–8 p.m.

For questions, please contact Education Coordinator Peggy Schauffler: peggys@jordanschnitzer.org

Photo caption: Students display their gallery curation product at the Schnitzer Collection building

Pastel Society of the West Coast (PSWC) Scholarship Program

The PSWC Art Scholarship Program fulfills part of their mission to promote education in the arts–especially pastels. Each year, they solicit high school art teachers, college art departments, and statewide arts organizations to find talented, dedicated students interested in pursuing a career in art at a junior or four-year college or university, or an accredited art school.

Applicants may apply for t$2000 annual scholarships if they fit the criteria below as set out by the Board of PSWC.

Successful candidates must:

• be planning to pursue a career in art
• be a high school senior, college freshman, sophomore, or junior enrolled in a junior or four-year accredited college or university with enrollment in an art class
• submit a digital portfolio of at least three hand drawn or painted, original artworks created by the student (no photography or digital work accepted)
• submit three letters of recommendation from an art teacher, counselor, or PSWC member (at least two from school personnel)
• submit an artist statement/essay and a fully completed application form by the April 15 deadline

Submissions are due by April 15, 2025. See site for details and application form. 

Image by Cinthya Liang  from Pixabay

Announcing the Pulitzer Center’s Eighth Annual Fighting Words Poetry Contest!

How can poetry be an effective response to current events and the issues impacting our communities? How can journalism and poetry help us make connections between global issues and our local and personal contexts? Students are invited to explore these questions and make their voices heard in their entries to the Fighting Words Poetry Contest.

Current K-12 students anywhere in the world may enter. Students may write in any language, and are welcome to submit multilingual poems. Judges will have reading fluency in English and Spanish.

Entries Due Sunday, May 11, 2025, 11:59pm EDT. See site for details.

Photo by Trust "Tru" Katsande on Unsplash

Dear Education Partners, 

We are excited to announce that applications are now open for the Immigrant/Refugee Student Success Advisory Group! The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is seeking passionate individuals—including students, educators, and community members—to serve on this advisory group. Members will help guide the implementation of the Immigrant/Refugee Student Success Plan, ensuring that policies, programs, and investments effectively support immigrant and refugee students across Oregon.

Who Should Apply?

According to ORS 329.849, the advisory group must include:

• individuals who identify as immigrant/refugees
• students who identify as immigrant/refugees
• representatives of community-based organizations serving immigrant/refugee communities
• education partners, including representatives from the Department of Early Learning and Care, Youth Development Oregon, and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission

We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds, roles, and lived experiences.

Commitment & Meeting Schedule

• Virtual monthly meetings (third Thursday of each month, 1:00–3:00 PM PST)
• First meetings: May 22 & June 19, 2025. then will resume in September.
• Annual in-person retreat (between school years)
• Term length: Two or three years

How to Apply

Applications open February 26, 2025, and must be submitted by Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 5:00 PM (PST).

Submit your application here

If you prefer to apply via phone, video call, written letter, or need translation services or accommodations, please contact us at ODE.ImmigrantRefugee.Success@ode.oregon.gov. For any questions, feel free to reach out. We appreciate your support in sharing this opportunity with your networks!

National Endowment for the Arts Research Grants 

The National Endowment for the Arts invites applicants to engage with the agency’s five-year research agenda through two funding opportunities for research projects:

• Research Grants in the Arts funds research studies that investigate the value and/or impact of the arts, either as individual components of the U.S. arts ecosystem or as they interact with each other and/or with other domains of American life.
• NEA Research Labs funds projects that support transdisciplinary research teams grounded in the social and behavioral sciences, yielding empirical insights about the arts for the benefit of arts and non-arts sectors alike. The NEA may enter into up to one subsequent renewal award with the recipient of a NEA Research Labs grant for a project consistent with the intent of these guidelines. Any such future awards are subject to agency priorities, the availability of funds, awardee performance, and the agency’s regular review process.

Submission Deadline: March 24, 2025. See site for submission details and eligibility requirements.