EdTA Advocacy Update
August 14, 2018
The Advocacy Update is where you can find current national and state news concerning arts advocacy and arts education.
EdTA NEWS
80th Annual High School Play Survey Results Released
Some communications channels come and go (think MySpace and Vine) but theatre--and the tradition of the high school play--are both alive and well. According to EdTA's annual high school play survey, Beauty and the Beast; Almost, Maine; and Check Please clinched top billing for most produced musical, full-length play, and short play, respectively, during the 2017-18 school year.
STATE NEWS
Got state theatre and other arts education news you want to share? Send it to Shea: shaney@schooltheatre.org
Arkansas: Theatre for Life (Arkansas Online)
Arizona: Register Now: 2018 Joint Arts Education Conference (Arizona Commission on the Arts)
New Arts Organization Places High Schoolers Center Stage in ‘Chicago’ (Arizona Daily Sun)
State Arts Commission Spreads Wealth (Peoria Times)
D.C.: The Theatre Lab and Levine Music Announce New Partnership (Broadway World Washington, DC)
Florida: Intersection: Bringing Performing Arts to the Heart of a Community (WMFE)
After School Academy Gets Grant from Dep. of Education (WBTW)
Georgia: Nominations are Now Open for the 2019 ArtsATL Luminary Awards (ArtsATL)
Idaho: Spartanburg One Leads State in Arts in Basic Curriculum Funding (Tyron Daily Bulletin)
Meet the 2018 Recipients of the Governor’s Awards in the Arts (The Idaho Statesman)
Illinois: Ignite Peoria Offers Art, Education, and Fun Saturday at the Civic Center (Journal Star)
Arts and Education Council Announces Affiliation with Education Plus (Broadway World St. Louis)
Arts and Education Council Announces Fall 2018 Katherine Dunham Fellow (Broadway World St. Louis)
Indiana: Why One Teacher Relies on the Power of Music to Engage Immigrant Students (Chalkbeat)
Maine: Maine State Music Theatre Offers Free Concert on the Mall (Times Record)
Michigan: Genesee County Voters Approve New Arts Millage (Tri County Times)
New York: Charter School of the Arts Looks to Open in Cheektowaga (Cheektowaga Chronicle)
Oregon: Important for the Kids (The Argus Observer)
Pennsylvania: ‘Public Good’ Indeed: Arts Still Crucial (The Times Tribune)
Texas: Mesquite ISD: Fine Arts Programs Teach Skills for Success (Mesquite News)
Student Actors Hone Their Craft While Preparing for Fall Musical (Brownwood News)
Vermont: Montpelier Selected to Host Major Regional Creative Economy Conference (The Montpelier Bridge)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australia: Creativity and Arts as Crucial as Maths in Education, Says Tasmanian of the Year, Scott Rankin (ABC)
India: Meet the Hyderabad Dancer Who is Unboxing Gender, One Step at a Time (Hindustan Times)
WORTH READING
The Strange David and Goliath Saga of Radio Frequencies
THE EMAIL BLAST from the head of my son and daughter’s theater group relayed a frantic plea: “We need to raise $16,000 before the upcoming spring performances,” Anya Wallach, the executive director of Random Farms Kids’ Theater, in Westchester, New York, wrote in late May. If the money didn’t materialize in time, she warned, there could be a serious problem with the shows: nobody would hear the actors. (Wired)
Taking Note: Early Findings about Children’s Rates of Arts Participation
A persistent shortcoming of research in the arts has been a scarcity of large, longitudinal studies that track representative groups of Americans as they engage not only with the arts, but with other life-changing events and behaviors. Even when such data are available, the studies often do not capture a full array of biological, psychological, and social characteristics that would tell us more about the nature and strength of linkages between the arts and individual outcomes in health and education. (National Endowment for the Arts)
How Studying Drama Can Benefit Students Outside of the Drama Classroom
An arts education is extremely important and beneficial for students, as they will learn not only theatrical techniques but useful life skills as well. Here are just a few of the ways that studying drama can benefit students outside of the drama classroom. (Theatrefolk)