Welcome

Fall smART stART Workshop

2011-10-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

We are very excited about our upcoming Fall Workshops hosted November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 2011. This year we will be having 3 workshops which focus on specific art disciplines;
Music, Movement, and theVisual Arts. Teachers will be experiencing the art form for themselves as well as learning about our literacy suite. Thanks to the High Museum for providing tickets for our educators the day of their workshop. We are proud to be collaborating with past and new schools this 2011-2012 year!

Preliminary Findings

2011-10-20T10:42:00.000-07:00

We have received exciting news from our evaluators! All of our participating schools indicated that students achieved 1 level of competency after participating with the smART stART program!

Students

Average gains on measured outcomes were positive in all 18 schools and across residencies provided by all professional teaching artists.

Positive average gain of approximately one level of competence.

Classroom Teachers

Reported that smART stART had a:

Significant and very significant impact (89%) on student engagement.

Significant and very significant impact (89%) in using the Arts to teach language and other content areas (85%) as well as creatively teach the required content standards (96%)

Significant and very significant impact (87%) in meeting the needs of individual students.

Teaching Artists

Positive trends in lesson delivery (96.1%), classroom management (92%) and student participation (97.7%).

2011-09-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to announce that we will be piloting smART stART at two Boys and Girls Clubs this fall! Lawrenceville Boys and Girls Club will be working with Jason Pellet, a music teaching artist, and A. Worley Brown Boys and Girls Club will be working with Roelna Bashew, a visual artist. A special thanks to all that attended our on site pre-planning meeting this past Thursday, you are the ones who will make smART stART a smooth success!

smART stART 2011-2012 school!!!

2011-08-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce our participating smART stART 2011-2012 schools!

Anne Street Elementary
Brockett Elementary
Cook Elementary
Dunleith Elementary
Gaines Elementary
Harper Elementary
Imagine Wesley
James A. Jackson Elementary
Mattie Wells Elementary
McEver Arts Academy
Metter Elementary
Smoke Rise Elementary
R. L. Miller Elementary

We are also partnering with the Boys and Girls Club at it's Norcross and Lawrenceville locations as will as the City of Atlanta Recreation Departments. In addition, we will be participating with 78 classrooms throughout the state of Georgia enriching the lives and learning of young people through the arts. Stay turned for further community collaboration and updates!

2011-05-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is excited to announce open enrollment for the smART stART Program for the 2011- 2012 school year!

This means that 15 Georgia elementary schools could have the opportunity to take part in this exciting arts-integrated literacy program. As one of the signature programs of Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center, smART stART has helped 18 schools, 94 classrooms, and over 2,000 students develop essential reading‐readiness skills using a hands‐on, arts‐integrated approach that is delivered by one of Young Audiences’ professional teaching artists. smART stART residencies align with and support Georgia Performance Standards in English Language Arts & Reading and in Fine Arts.

Apply by May, 27 2011!

Click Here to Apply

The Three Little Pigs

2011-05-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

Amy Alderman, Mattie Wells Primary's site coordinator, said the ‘smART stART’ program has been beneficial to her students. “I was so impressed that my students could easily remember the new art vocabulary and use it in their conversations with others. They were so excited each day to go to class and enjoyed retelling the stories we learned,” Alderman said. “On the final day, my class made a movie of the students retelling the final story. The movie really showed how much the students had learned during the two weeks.” Alderman said it is her hope that the grant will be available again and that Wells Elementary can apply for the grant again next year.

To read more about this story in the Jones County News CLICK HERE

smART stART at Dunleith Continued!

2011-02-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

Dunleith students are at it again! Teaching Artist, Pam Beagle-Daresta, is captivating students' imagination using the visual arts. Spending eight sessions with five of Dunleith's kindergarten classrooms, Pam has reinforced the GA Standard, retelling a story; beginning, middle, and end through her artform. The students are working with watercolor, markers, and other materials to create the sequence of a bear's hibernation. They started with the beginning, sketching the animal eating. Next, the students created the end with the bear waking up. Finally, they constructed the middle with the bear dreaming. They were able to draw what they believed the bear was dreaming about. Stories and discussions complete the learning experience in the classroom. The students will share their stories at the end of their residency.

Earn PLU's with smART stART !

2011-01-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is proud to announce we are now a vendor for Professional Learning Units! Many smART stART programs have begun , but the opportunity is still available for those participating teachers who would like to acquire 1 PLU (10 hours) toward their certification. The Georgia Department of Education is on a 5 year “pause” which does not require PLU’s for recertification. Once the five years are complete, Professional Learning Units will, once again, be needed to maintain certification. This is a great opportunity to earn credit for a PLU that may be needed in the future. Lastly, Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center will keep records of completion if documentation is needed in the future.

smART stART Featured in Atlanta Parent Magazine!

2011-01-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

“Paintbrushes for Pencils” features Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center and our smART stART and Arts for Learning Lessons programs!

Susan McQuade participated in an interview with the writer (Melanie Wagner) and she is quoted throughout the article. Melanie also interviewed YAWAC artist Karin Mervis while she was doing smART stART at McEver Arts Academy last year. All of the pictures on pages 64 and 65 (starting on page 75 online) are from Young Audiences and feature our 2010 smART stART program.

This is fantastic coverage of YAWAC and our literacy suite programs.
Atlanta Parent Magazine can be found all over town – including here at Woodruff. Make sure you get yourself a copy to share with your friends and coworkers.

To see the complete January 2011 Edition be sure to click HERE

Let the Road Trip Begin...

2010-12-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

Let the good times roll! This January, 13 of Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center teaching artists will be taking arts and education on the road to 18 Georgia elementary schools. During the next 3 months 94 kindergarten classrooms will be retelling stories through various art forms! Over 2,040 kindergarten students will learning about narrative elements as wells as fundamentals of art. As we get closer to going live, please be sure to check in and keep up on the amazing progress made by some of the schools.

Ready... Set... smART stART!

2010-11-17T11:04:00.000-08:00

On November 15th, 2010 there was a whole lot of sharing and learning taking place in the Circle Room at the Woodruff Center. All of the 18 participating smART stART Site Coordinators came from all over the state of Georgia to meet with their Teaching Artist to officially begin the smART stART program. Among the topics discussed were assessment, unit plans for their residency, and arts integrated strategies for teaching literacy to young students. Site Coordinators were introduced to arts based approaches in all of the major artistic disciplines – Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts and Music. All sessions were facilitated by YA staff and YA Teaching Artists making for a hands on fun filled day. The enthusiasm shared by all of the participants helped brighten up the rainy day making the second fall smART stART workshop a success! Thanks to all of those who participated.

smART stART Teaching Artist Workshop was a Success!

2010-10-29T08:16:00.001-07:00

Young Audiences has successfully completed our Teaching Artists Workshop this past October 20th, 2010! Engaging ideas were tossed around the conference room which included reading standards, essential questions, and inspirational lesson plans. Some teaching artists ranging from dance, music, and visual arts, demonstrated their strategies for engaging students’ participation through literary comprehension and the fine arts. Not only was the workshop fun, but it also created a positive environment for learning through the smART stART program. We are hard at work to make our next smART stART fall workshop, November 15th, 2010, as educational and dynamic as the first!

Fall Workshop Means smART stART is Going Live!

2010-10-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is proud to announce that our fall planning smART stART workshops will be taking October 20^th and November 15^th, 2010! We are excited to promote early literacy skills – specifically the students ability to retell a story – through the arts. During the smART stART workshops Teaching Artists and participating classroom teachers will collaborate to explore arts based strategies to help kindergarten students grasp foundational literacy skills. This collaboration is integral to ensuring student achievement and makes for a great way to spend the day! Be sure to check back for pictures and coverage of the workshops. We are on the saddle again and enthusiastic to start this 2010-2011 school year off with a bang!

smART stART is back, alright!

2010-09-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is pleased to announce the return of our arts integrated literacy program - smART stART! We are gearing up for a very exciting school year… through the generous donations of our funders, Target and Junior League of Atlanta, we are able to bring smART stART 2010-2011 to 18 schools, 91 participating classrooms and over 1,800 students! This more than triples our impact in comparison to last year’s program!

The ball has started to get rolling in making it all happen… We are in frequent communication with the schools and teaching artists, and are looking forward to finalizing planning dates and pairing artists with schools shortly. We are excited to announce that the following schools are on our roster for this year:

Anne Street Elementary – Griffin Spalding County Schools

Brockett Elementary - DeKalb County Schools

Cook Elementary – Atlanta Public Schools

Dunleith Elementary – Marietta City Schools

George E. Washington Elementary – Meriwether County Schools

Harper Elementary – Clayton County Schools

Heritage Academy – Atlanta Public Schools

Hickory Hills Elementary – Marietta City Schools

James A. Jackson Elementary – Clayton County Schools

Mattie Wells Elementary – Jones County Schools

McEver Elementary – Hall County Schools

Metter Elementary – Candler County Schools

Norton Elementary – Gwinnett County Schools

Palmer-Stone Elementary – Newton County Schools

Sumter Primary – Sumter County Schools

Sycamore Elementary – Gwinnett County Schools

West Newton Elementary – Newton County Schools

Wesley Lakes Elementary – Henry County Schools

As you can see, smART stART is now being delivered in 12 different Georgia school districts. We are pleased to welcome so many new schools and districts into partnership with us to impact the lives and learning of Georgia’s children through the arts!

Stay tuned for more updates as they become available!

The Gainesville Times Coverage of smART stART

2010-05-07T07:32:00.001-07:00

McEver Elementary is rocking and rolling. In addition to McEver's recent charter application to become an arts integrated model school, smART stART has been providing students with more opportunities to experience the arts while learning early literacy skills. Special thank you's to McEver's wonderful staff, Brandee Thomas - Gainesville Time's journalist and of course the YA staff that made this happen.

To see the online version of the article click HERE.

For more information on McEver and their commitment to a new charter click HERE.

Junior League of Atlanta + smART stART = Great Combination

2010-04-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

smART stART would not be possible without the contributions of our sponsors. Junior League of Atlanta, one of those sponsors, goes above and beyond the call of duty by also supporting smART stART with a reading program. The reading program is completely coordinated and executed with Junior League members. This year volunteers visited Scott Elementary spending time with the Kindergarten students. Their time was spent reading, tutoring and supporting the students. The Junior League program culminated in a day full of read aloud's and arts activities for the students. YA cannot thank the Junior League of Atlanta enough for their support of smART stART!

Adding another school? McEver Mustangs are on board!

2010-03-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is proud to announce the addition of McEver Elementary to the smART stART program! We want to thank principal Rosa and her staff for committing to the program and being open to using the arts as a catalyst for learning. Teaching artist Karin Mervis and YAWAC staff are diligently working to prepare a unit plan that is sure to knock their socks off. Stay tuned for more updates and news from McEver Elementary.

Info on McEver Elementary;

McEver is located in Gainesville Georgia and is part of the Hall County School system. The school has about 415 students enrolled. Click HERE to go to their homepage.

"Focus Atlanta" airs a segment about smART stART

2010-03-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to our friends at The CW Atlanta and their show "Focus Atlanta" for the coverage of the segment on smART stART! Young Audiences Associate Director Myrna Lubin and Teaching Artist Emily Kent are interviewed in this segment.

For more info on the show "Focus Atlanta" click HERE.

Friends from Target!

2010-03-09T11:40:00.001-08:00

No time like the present to thank our friends from Target! We here at Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center had the luck to sit down with Bernard Boudreaux and Alison Thurner - community relations representatives from Target. Pictured above (from left to right) is Bernard Boudreaux, Alison Thurner, Tony Kimbrell (YAWAC Executive Director), and Edwin Link (YAWAC Staff).

Target's commitment to the community is outstanding. Target proudly supports schools with innovative giving programs, volunteering efforts and partnerships with educational organizations. There support has been instrumental in helping YA deliver the smART stART program. For that we are eternally grateful!

We are also happy to report that the weather down here in Atlanta was a far cry better than that of Minneapolis. We hope they enjoy it while they have it!

For more on Target's commitment to community and education. Please click HERE.

Brockett's Photo Finish

2010-03-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

The students at Brockett have been working on retelling through visual arts and dramatic play. Don't take our word for it, check out what Ms. Harris has to say.

We think the staff and administration at Brockett Elementary are top notch! It has been a pleasure to work with them all.

All Good Things... Emily Completes smART stART at Scott

2010-03-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to have worked with Teaching Artist Emily Kent and the students, teachers and administrators of Scott Elementary. Please take a moment and get Ms. Musto's take on smART stART. It's been a blast!

smART stART on the cover of the living section of the AJC!

2010-03-03T05:11:00.000-08:00

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has published an article about Young Audiences' smART stART program! Be sure to check it out.

We greatly appreciate their coverage of the program. We especially apprecaite the administration and faculty of Brockett Elementary that made this all possible. Without all of the wonderful schools we work with this program would not be possible.

To see the article online, click HERE.

Fourth Session with TA Karin Mervis and Heritage Academy

2010-02-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

Literacy skills get a splash of color when TA Karin Mervis works with Heritage Academy. Using symbols and principles of colors students sequence stories and begin to retell. Authentic arts experiences lead to understandings that will last a lifetime.

For more information on Karin Mervis and some of the other work she does with Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center click HERE.

Brockett Students Sculpting Characters

2010-02-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Brockett students have been getting their hands on narrative elements! I know you are asking yourself - What? How could that be? Teaching Artist Roelna Bashew has the students at Brockett sculpting characters and settings for stories. Once these elements are all in place they will begin retelling the stories by manipulating their creations. The arts provide a medium for the students to not only tell a story, but to experience the stories through numerous modalities.

Students from Scott Elementary talk about their favorite part

2010-02-15T06:59:00.001-08:00

The half way mark has come and gone for Scott Elementary! We thought we would try to get a few brief reflections on everyone's favorite part of working with Teaching Artist Emily Kent. As you can tell from the video, the students are building their movement vocabulary and will begin creating and retelling stories with their new words.

Retelling and Sharing, Last Day at Cook

2010-02-12T10:31:00.000-08:00

*A student retells a story he created*

It's official! Cook's kindergarten students have completed the smART stART residency. During their last session with Roelna Bashew, the Teaching Artist, the students retold stories that they had worked with throughout the residency. Different methods were used for retelling which included; sculpting characters and manipulating them, sequencing stories with props and illustrations, and the creation of a personal story book. The personal story books were shared one on one with fellow students. It was a treat to work with Cook! We hope they enjoyed the program as much as we enjoyed having them be a part of it.

*Students retell a story with sculptures they created*

Retelling Through Dramatic Play

2010-02-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

Teaching Artist Kay Rosenblum uses dramatic play as a catalyst for learning. Students at Boyd Elementary are retelling stories using their body, voice, imagination and emotions. Imaginative play is helping create a fun atmosphere where students are constructing new understandings of the world around them.

For more information about Kay and other programs she offers through Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center click here.

A Teacher's Take on smART stART

2010-01-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

Art! Reading! Teachers! Students! See how all of these ingredients and best practices combine to improve students' literacy skills. Veteran teacher Ms. Moore, from Cook Elementary, gives us her take on the smART stART program. Teachers and specialists helped us tailor the program and without their help, smART stART would not be the program it is today. Students re-telling stories through art!

Thank You to our smART stART Sponsors!

2010-01-22T07:46:00.001-08:00

On behalf of Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center, we wanted to take a moment to recognize all of the great support we have received from Target, Sprint, Macy's, Norfolk Southern, Junior League of Atlanta and The Harland Foundation. It's through their generous financial support that we have been able to once again deliver smART stART. We sincerely appreciate their commitment to arts in education.

First/Second Session at Cook Elementary with TA Roelna Bashew

2010-01-20T12:32:00.000-08:00

Another snippet of a Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center Teaching Artist hard at work. Visual artist, Roelna Bashew, is working with the kindergarten students at Cook Elementary. Using elements of sculpting and puppetry, Roelna is helping the students retell stories.

First Session at Scott Elementary with TA Emily Kent

2010-01-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

Our first video! We are doing our best to document the process and are proud to share with you our first video. Here is a quick glimpse into the first session at Scott Elementary with teaching artist Emily Kent. In her first session, Emily begins working with movement vocabulary and sequencing of movement.

For more about Emily Kent and her work with Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center be sure to click here.

The Gift of Creativity

2009-12-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

The holidays are a favorite time of year for many of us – full of friends, family, good food and reflecting on a year of milestones. It’s also a time when we look ahead to the New Year, anticipating all the great things to come.

*Students work from smART stART 2009*

Here at Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center, we are preparing to kick off the eighth year of our smART stART program this January and wanted to create a space that delivered real time evidence of the power of arts education through the lens of smART stART. We hope this blog not only keeps you informed about all the great things happening through the program, but also excites you to all the learning potential made possible through the arts.

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with smART stART, here’s a brief overview of the program’s main cornerstones:

• An arts based approach to teaching early literacy
• All major disciplines represented (Music, Dance, Theatre and Visual Arts)
• Lessons delivered by a Young Audiences Teaching Artist in a sequential residency format
• Program presented to kindergarten students in Title I metro Atlanta schools

Each year the program supports a specific literacy objective. This year, we’ve selected the Georgia Performance Standard ELAKR6, specifically focusing on a child's ability to retell stories to include beginning, middle and end.

The arts have a unique ability of bridging the gap that exists in a child's ability to listen to a story and then be able to tell that same story. They provide children with an opportunity to hear, internalize and synthesize a story, and then express that same story with a new understanding. By incorporating an art discipline into this classroom instruction, we are able to broaden the power and impact of orally presented text by allowing children to take ownership and create new understanding of the concept through a given art form.

So what about the art? What about the creative process? During a fall planning process Young Audiences staff work with teaching artists to plan and design lesson that meet given arts objectives in addition to the literacy objective. Since we work with teaching artists in different disciplines, we want the artist to chose the arts objective they feel best integrates with the literacy objective.

*Student work from smART stART 2009*

Over the next few months as the program is delivered, we will be sharing anecdotal evidence from the smART stART program – along with pictures and videos from different classroom residencies – in hopes of really illustrating the transforming power of the arts and the value of smART stART in increasing literacy throughout metro Atlanta. We also hope this starts and encourages a continuation of topics like arts education assessment, integrating the arts, the power of co-teaching, child centered learning, and student engagement, to name a few.

We welcome your thoughts and ideas about both smART stART and arts education as a whole – so please feel free to post your ideas in the comments section! We look forward to hearing from you.

Until then, Happy Holidays from everyone at Young Audiences.