Arts Academy Revitalization Action Team

Arts Academy Meeting Notes, Apr. 4, 2007

April 4, 2007 at 1:10 pm | In Minutes |

Summary:

Meeting adjourned at 2:25 p.m.

Next meeting: Monday, 4/9 at 1:40 in the Music Room

Present:

• Vicky Stubbs
• Jane Krasnow
• Lisa Hicks
• Dave Beane
• Phil Divinsky
• Val Green
• Dave Nichols
• Lisa DiFranza
• Diane Manzi
• Tom Lafavore

Full Notes (paraphrased):

Tom provided us all with copies of The Freedom Writers Diary. Yay!

We started by sharing thoughts about the HOME project, reactions to it, etc. We agreed that we are grading on participation, not content. We will collect papers or not, depending on a student’s comfort level.

Val’s class is very tough, and might benefit from mixing with another class. She was thinking also about taking them to a different place, maybe the greenhouse. We decided to change the schedule so that Video and Web will be in mixed groups on 4/12. Val will check with Bob Francis to see whether those groups could meet in the greenhouse that day. The schedule is here.

After Phase 2, we will ask for submissions from students. This prompted a discussion of what the sessions would be like after April vacation — more writing or would it be taking material from the submissions and pulling ideas from it to create projects from disciplines? Kids want to work together.

We decided to collect work after Phase 2 (just before April break), and make some displays for the 3rd floor hallway. We’ll type up and enlarge some of the submissions and display them with the rest of the submissions around the enlargements, and start off after vacation with 2 big group sessions in the hallway to look at the material and do something with it. Tom needs to show Ellen how to use the plotter printer so that she can print the posters for us during April vacation.

Should we move PATHSFest? At today’s staff meeting, Irv, Jack and Vinny couldn’t participate on a 5/15 date (Irv because it’s finals week in his class and Jack and Vinny because of the AAA championship that day). Phil will check with these teachers and with Dana and Brian to see about moving it back a week to 5/22. That would also give us one more week to work on the HOME project.

Phil reports that so far 90-95% of the staff are interested in participating in PATHSFest as described at the staff meeting (festival with rotating demonstrations/presentations all day on a schedule–see the previous meeting’s notes for details).