Arts Academy Revitalization Action Team

Arts Academy Meeting Notes, December 12th, 2007

12/12/07 AARAT MEETING

Present:

• Dave Beane
• Phil Divinsky
• Dave Nichols
• Diane Manzi
• Vicky Stubbs

Time: 1:10 until 2:10

PATHSFEST Discussion

• We chose the date… May 22, 2008
  Dave Beane took on the job of clearing the date with Dana and Brian.
• We all agreed that we would like support from Dana and Brian regarding
  an all-school involvement. Our hope is that each program will present,
  with the emphasis on an Interactive Experience for the visitors. “Something
  for the public to do (or make) when they visit each program.
• Should we have a THEME for PATHSFEST? At least we should connect
  our Arts Cluster/Academy with a PATHSFEST theme.
• How do we involve and invite more community members?
• We liked the balloon last year, and the police dogs, etc. Also Tshirts
  again, and maybe some programs will display outside, weather permitting.
• We should invite High Schools and Middle Schools of surrounding area.
  We should clear this with Administration at PATHS.
• We need to make sure that everyone at PATHS is “on the same
  page” about why is invited, and the logistics of the day.
• We should invite CBHS to be involved and maybe show their expeditions.
  It is important to be clear with them about HOW they would like to be involved,
  and get a commitment from them.
• Should we do something as an Arts Academy – a thematic presentation?
  Reactions from the group were positive and negative.
  Diane: her students don’t want to do another project like HOME (her objections
  were about the process of how we did the work – unorganized and sometimes
  unclear)
  Dave B: students don’t want to do another project like HOME
  Dave N: he and his students enjoyed last year’s work with writing,
  and writing is still in place in his classroom this year. Positive stuff
  came from
  the experience.
  Jane: Positive experience, and liked the writing. She is continuing to do
  some writing with Bo Hewey and the class.
• In order for us to pull it off successfully, we need to have ‘buy-in’ from
  the students. And the theme needs to be relevant and broader. Home was relevant,
  but sometimes too personal.
• The theme could be COMMUNITY.
• The presentations could be more about “Real World” work,
  rather than Literacy based. Literacy can be part of it, but not the focus.
• Theme could be: COMMUNITY…what is my World, and How do I impact
  the World?
• Jane had a terrific Postcard Idea.
• Setup a table at PATHSFEST where people could make collage postcards
  with paper and magazines, etc. and glue sticks. The postcards would have
  a slogan on them such as “Keep Art in the Schools” or something
  like that. Then they would get mailed off to the Governor, Ed. People in
  Augusta,
  etc.
• We should invite GAC and advisory board members.
• We should put PATHSFEST in the Paycheck memo.
• We should make a visitation packet – to send out to any visiting
  school with “rules of the game” and expectations.
• Create a student PATHSFEST group. One student from each program,
  or two groups – one AM one PM. Don’t know.
• We should take 10 minutes of EVERY meeting we have this year to discuss
  PATHSFEST and stay updated on jobs to do.
• We should assign a timekeeper at each meeting to keep us on track.

NEXT WEEKS AGENDA:

Homework: bring in a printed copy of this PATHSFEST WORK.
PATHSFEST: 10 min.
VISIONING: 30 min.
Parking Lot: 5 min.
Agenda: 5 min.

Val’s Vision (first draft) for Crossover Days

This is my vision (first draft) for Crossover Days. Most of the examples involve my class because I have the most experience with how it could be chunked up.

I hope that this will be a jumping-off point for discussion, because I think we could make this into something great.

What is a “Crossover Day”? A Crossover Day is a day each week when participating programs offer classes in the style of the Community of Learners or Adult Ed. Classes can be a single session or multiple sessions. Community members can enroll (if allowed by the instructor) for a small fee. All posting of classes and sign-up for classes is done online.

• Crossover Days happen every Friday in both sessions. All classes are 2.5 hours long. I think the regularity of every Friday is important to maintain, especially if we can get community members used to checking the Web site to see what’s happening on a Friday.
• Instructors can enter course information online.
• Students, staff, and community members can sign up for a course online.
• Instructors can offer chunks of courses. Example: Ms. Green will offer a 6 session course in PHP Basics. Ms. Green will offer a 6 session course in Advanced PHP. Prerequisite: PHP Basics or permission from the instructor.
• Instructors can offer small chunks. Example: Ms. Green will offer a 3 session course on combining Flash and PHP. Prerequisites: Flash Basics, PHP Basics.
• Instructors can offer a common course during Crossover Days. Example: Ms. Manzi will offer a 3 session course in Layout Basics. Ms. Green, Mr. Nichols, and Mr. Beane will require their students to take this course.
• Community members can take classes. Example: Mr. Smith, who lives nearby, is thrilled to see that Ms. Krasnow is offering a 3 session course on finding the right market for your product. He signs up online and pays a small fee to enroll.
• Community members can teach classes. Example: Ms. Nadeau, a Portland resident, is interested in teaching a 2 session Horticulture Crossover in Phytoremediation.
• 8th Grade Exploratory Option 1: Mr. Beane will offer a 5 session exploratory course for 8th graders interested in Video Tech.
• 8th Grade Exploratory Option 2: Jennifer, a student at Moore, sees that Ms. Green is offering a 5 session Robotics and Intro to Java Programming class. The class is open to PATHS students and 8th graders.
• Semester Class Option: Ms. Green will offer a 10 session class in Using CSS for Web Design. The class is open to PATHS students, all students in the Portland Schools, and community members (for a small fee).
• Students can teach other students: Clarissa is so good at PhotoShop that she wants to teach a class on Advanced Image Processing Techniques. She works with Ms. Green to develop a lesson plan and then offers a 2 session course for 10 students.
• Crossover Days can be outside the usual subject area. Ms. Green will offer a 6 session class in Argentine Tango. Class size is limited to 20.
• Crossover Days happen every Friday, but instructors don’t have to offer one every Friday. Example: Ms. Green holds a regular class for 5 Fridays so students can finish a big project. Or: Ms. Green and her students take Ms. Manzi’s course in Layout Basics for 3 Fridays.

There are a lot of logistics to work out (scheduling, insurance, contract requirements, etc.) but I think it would really energize PATHS to have something like this going on.

Arts Academy Meeting Notes, December 5, 2007

Summary:

We spent the meeting working on our vision statement, working with our “what does a graduating student look like” list and with the vision statement from the Boston Arts Academy. We came up with 2 general statements about our intentions (subject to change…) and then started talking about specifics.

Big statements:

• By 2010, The Arts Academy at PATHS will be a recognized leader and advocate for the arts and their integration with academics.
• By 2015, our state-of-the-art facility will serve our students and the community at large.

Big question: Can we send students to Casco Bay for core subjects?

Agenda for our next meeting, on December 12, 2007:

1. PATHSFest planning: 25 minutes
2. Vision work: 25 minutes
3. Parking lot: 5 minutes
4. Agenda: 5 minutes

Continue reading Arts Academy Meeting Notes, December 5, 2007…