How six school districts integrate arts education into the curriculum
By Ruth E. Sternberg
The performing and visual arts challenge students to use reasoning skills—both concrete and abstract—to draw conclusions and formulate ideas. They encourage creativity and imagination, from concept to process to completion. And in districts both large and small across the United States, they enhance learning for students and adults alike...
Luke McLean is only in high school, but he’s helping produce a movie—a half-hour film called Soul Sight, about a telepathic girl. McLean, 18, who attends tiny Corvallis High School in rural Montana, says the project is teaching him to develop, sell, and produce a concept. “It sure has helped my practical application, such as responsibility and management and keeping track of things,” he says. McLean hopes to use what he has learned to get a job in the film industry after graduation. That’s part of ex-Hollywood film producer Peter Rosten’s vision. Retiring to Montana in 2001, he saw a need to expose young people to expanded opportunities, and he chose to do his work in the Corvallis School District No. 1. “Most students didn’t have a lot of arts education opportunities,” says Rosten, who produced such films as 1989’s True Believer, which starred James Woods. “And employment in our state is not great. We don’t have our indigenous industries anymore, like mining, ranching, and lumber.”
When Rosten approached the school administration about creating the Media Arts in Public Schools program, Superintendent Daniel Sybrant was skeptical. “We didn’t know who he was. He wasn’t a teacher. We had no funds,” Sybrant says. “It was totally outside the box.”
But Sybrant allowed Rosten to teach an adult-education class and include teachers, who later got their kids involved. Their students produced a short feature called French Love. Rosten then asked for and received support from friends, local business owners, and the Montana Arts Council. The Florence Prever Rosten Foundation, named in honor of Rosten’s mother, raised $11,000 at a local concert benefit to support the program, known as MAPS. Rosten, now a fully certified teacher, has 50 students in grades 8-12 enrolled in Media Arts I and II. The students are making movies and videos, some of which are shown at the local multiplex, which is owned by school board member Joe McLean, Luke’s father. The young filmmakers even have paying clients. “We just produced two public-service TV announcements for our PBS affiliate on drunk driving,” Rosten says. Gov. Brian Schweitzer has praised MAPS for its potential to attract big-name filmmakers to Montana. A state proposal would expand MAPS statewide in 2007, funding it through a state grant matching what Rosten’s foundation raises. “It’s a unique opportunity for these kids,” Rosten says. “When we work, we shoot Saturdays, holidays, and weekends, and each crew member gets $10 a day. The goal is to equip them with skills that are transferable.” |
