EdTA Advocacy Update
July 3, 2018
The Advocacy Update is where you can find current national and state news concerning arts advocacy and arts education.
EdTA NEWS
Broadway's The Prom Will Donate Portion of All Ticket Sales to Help Theatre Education Programs
The upcoming Broadway musical The Prom, which explores how the theatre scene can (perhaps comically) band together to support a school community in need, will live up to its promise through an arrangement with the Educational Theatre Foundation. (Playbill)
NATIONAL NEWS
Broadway League Announces 2018 League Educator Apple Award Recipients
The Broadway League has announced the recipients of the 2018 League Educator Apple Awards, which recognize teachers, administrators, and arts advocates for their commitment to arts education and their work in collaboration with League member venues that present touring Broadway shows across the U.S. (Playbill)
Winners Announced for the Musical Theatre Songwriting Challenge
A song about the zombie apocalypse won first place in the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge final competition. Junior high school student David Volpini from Macomb, Michigan is the national songwriting champion, receiving the top prize of a $25,000 school scholarship—courtesy of the National Music Publishers Association S.O.N.G.S. Foundation—for his song “Day Number One.” (National Endowment for the Arts)
STATE NEWS
Got state theatre and other arts education news you want to share? Send it to Shea: shaney@schooltheatre.org
Arkansas: Non-Profit Offers Kids Arts, Theatre Education (KTVA)
California: Project 18Fourty Dance Studio, Paving the Way for Ballerinas of Color (LA Sentinel)
There’s an Art to It: Art Instruction Returns to Elementary Schools (Coastal View)
Education Round Up: Los Angeles Theatres Unite an Expansive Community through Youth Programs (Broadway World Los Angeles)
Georgia: Funding Arts and Creativity for the Next Generation: Nonprofit Allots AthFest Funds to Local Educators (The Red & Black)
Kentucky: Annual Arts Academy Helps Teachers Learn More About Art Forms and How to Teach Them (The Advocate-Messenger News)
Massachusetts: Eastie Schools to Share in Arts Grants (East Boston Times-Free Press)
Michigan: Life Lessons for Budding Child Actors from ‘Rock Stars’ (Lansing City Pulse)
School Beat: Rockford is STEAM’n (The Rockford Squire)
Youth Summer Theatre Programs Marks 13th Year (Grand Rapids MN Herald-Review)
Missouri: Arts and Education Council Announces 2018-2019 Operating Support Grants (Broadway World St. Louis)
New Jersey: EdTA Selects Golda Och Academy Arts Department Chair for Prestigious Theatre Project (Tap Into West Orange)
Surflight Theatre Education Department Offers Camps, Children’s Theatre, and More (Broadway World New Jersey)
New York: Teaching Trop to Rwanda Provides Many Lessons for Buffalo State Students (WKBW)
North Carolina: Educator Attends Summer Theatre Education Program (Gaston Gazette)
Ohio: Great Cincinnati Summer Theatre Program Allows Teens to ‘Make Waves’ (Cincinnati Business Journal)
South Dakota: SD Arts Council Fiscal Year 2019 Grant Awards Announced (Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan)
Tennessee: Clarksville, Austin Peay State University Host 2018 Tennessee Arts & Arts Education Conference (Clarksville Online)
Texas: Conroe High School Theatre Guru Wins Outstanding Arts Teacher Award (Houston Chronicle)
West Virginia: National Council on the Arts to Meet in West Virginia this Week (West Virginia Metro News)
INTERNATIONAL
United Kingdom: Why Regional Youth Theatres Provide ‘a Lifeline to Young People’ (The Stage)
WORTH READING
To Elevate the Role of Arts Education, Measure It
Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), there’s been much talk about the added flexibility for states to incorporate additional measures into their state accountability systems. ESSA allows states broader latitude to define school quality and ensure that students receive a “well-rounded education,” a definition that includes the arts and music. (Brookings)
When the Actors are Students, and They’re Armed
Somerset Berkley Regional High in Massachusetts had already cast its spring musical, “Miss Saigon,” when the February shooting in Parkland, Fla., renewed the specter of gun violence in American schools. (New York Times)
Music Education Could Help Children Improve their Language Skills
While many people often consider music a universal language, a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study done in Beijing shows that it may help with spoken language as well. (Sandhills Express)