THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509240053
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: POPLAR BRANCH LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
Never in her 17 years as an elementary school principal did Fannie Newbern imagine she'd be publicly singing the praises of a new program - until A+ Schools came along.
Standing before the Currituck County school board and again in front of dozens of parents at an open house, Newbern and her teachers let it rip:
``He said, `Integrate the arts
`With their lessons and their hearts
`And you can't go wrong
`They WILL get strong
`Doing that A+ School Thang!' ''
The ``he'' is Ralph Burgard, a cultural and educational planning consultant at Harvard. The ``thang'' is A+ Schools, an interdisciplinary program designed to boost school attendance, morale and test scores.
If the program is a success, by the turn of the century all North Carolina public school students could become more competitive through artistic endeavors.
For now, though, it's being tested in 20 of 119 school districts across the state, including Newbern's W.T. Griggs Elementary in Poplar Branch and two Gates County elementary schools for fourth- through sixth-graders.
Both Griggs and a combined T.S. Cooper Elementary and Gatesville Elementary have about 500 students and will help represent rural populations in a four-year study.
Forty-eight schools within 33 districts applied to be part of the statewide program, funded through private and public money.
``We feel so proud because we are one of the 25 schools in North Carolina chosen. We consider ourselves a select group, and we're real proud of what we have been doing,'' said T.S. Cooper Principal Benjamin Saunders.
So what exactly are these schools doing that sets them apart from the others?
Art lessons are now taught on a daily basis, rather than weekly or quarterly, and more outside talent is being imported in areas like dance and music.
Teachers, who normally plan lessons independently, now work in tandem with full-time art instructors to reinforce standard subjects with paints, dance, songs, sculpture and other art forms.
Educators hope the new system will improve retention in all aspects of school life. Students will want to come to school, lowering absenteeism. And they'll remember more of what they learn by tapping into different parts of the brain.
``It does not mean any less push for academics,'' Newbern warned. ``It is still a priority.''
At Griggs, for instance, fifth-graders studying volcanos in science are creating them in art.
``Probably, when I get older, I'll remember volcanos by what we made,'' Shawna Jones, 11, said after helping her classmates show off a paper-mache mountain that will erupt with two others at a school assembly.
Fourth-graders placed wheat-paste-soaked strips around light bulbs to create Cherokee rattlers. The musical instruments help reinforce current lessons on Native American culture and North Carolina history.
``When I heard about the program, I was overjoyed because this is how I like to teach art,'' said Lisa Doxey, the school's first full-time art instructor.
Why, when the push has been toward technology, would schools turn to drama and dancing to make children competitive in the 21st Century?
``The arts truly are a universal language, and they are very public. They lend themselves to helping children learn knowledge in different way,'' said Gerry Howell, an education program consultant with the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts in Winston-Salem.
The Kenan Institute, created several years ago to promote the arts, is the guiding force behind the A+ program.
This year each school received $25,000 in start-up funds from Kenan and its funding partners. Local and state governments each matched the amount and are expected gradually to assume more financial responsibility over the next four years.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. earmarked $1.5 million in state money to support the first two years of the A+ project. The General Assembly approved a third of that amount.
The A+ program began several years ago at a Charleston, S.C., elementary school. Within five years, the school saw its academic rankings soar to the top of the school system. At the same time, discipline problems went down.
The concept of A+ is based on Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Gardner identified seven ways the brain absorbs information, such as linguistically, visually and kinesthetically.
Children will learn more if the information is presented in a variety of ways - not just by reading or hearing words in a book or on a chalkboard, A+ promoters claim.
The more diverse instructions appears to work especially well with special-needs children, such as those with Attention Deficit Disorder, said Zandra MacDonald, a veteran teacher at Griggs.
``You're going to touch a lot more children because you're going to touch different ways for them to learn,'' MacDonald said.
``I just think it's great,'' said Janet Hoffman, a parent volunteer at Griggs. ``I think it gives kids that don't necessarily learn from a textbook an equal chance.''
Teachers at Griggs wear big red A+ buttons almost daily, and on Fridays they don an A+ T-shirt or sweatshirt to show their support for the program.
Staff solidarity and commitment were important in determining who would be selected for the project, Howell said.
Each school will be evaluated in areas such as attendence, discipline and academics over the next four years. As results are publicized, it is the Kenan Institute's hope that more schools will sign on.
``Our goal is to have this institutionalized throughout the North Carolina school system,'' Howell said.
At T.S. Cooper, the staff already is seeing more interest on the part of parents. Saunders reported an overflow crowd at a recent open house and high attendence at the first PTA meeting.
At Griggs, expectations also are high.
``I hope the kids will want to come to school more,'' Newbern said. ``We want happy kids, no violence - not that we have a problem with that anyway.''
And, she added, ``we hope to see our test scores, which already are pretty high, get even higher.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DREW WILSON/Staff
Lynn Lindsey, right, of Griggs Elementary School, exudes joy in a
papier mache project that gave Hannah Griggs a challenge. The two
were making Native American rattles in the A+ Schools program, which
integrates art, in an effort to give pupils a variety of ways to
learn.
Graphic
A+ SCHOOLS
The folowing are what the program hopes to provide and,
ultimately, achieve.
For children:
+More ways to learn, to succeed
+Self-discipline
+Improved attendence
+Improved test scores
For teachers:
+Options for teaching
+Shared decision-making
+Interdisciplinary teaching
+Improved morale
For administrators:
+School-based decisions
+Collaborative planning teams
+Improved results
+Community support
For parents:
+User-friendly schools
+Participation and involvement
+Shared ownership
+Parental pride
For communities:
+Safer schools
+Work-focused skills
+Respect for diversity
+Productive, effective citizens
Source: Kenan Institute for the Arts
by CNB