The image depicts a person in an orange shirt with blue stripes and a person with long brown hair in a blue sweater gathered in front of a laptop various wires and tape. The person in the blue sweater is holding a roll of white tape while the person in the orange shirt manipulates the mousepad on the laptop.CLAE Cohort 7 Matriculates

On May 15, 2017 we said goodbye and good luck to graduates of cohort seven of our Community of Learners for Arts Education (CLAE) program for administrators.

Fourteen participants from five school districts spent this final day at Sweetwater Center for the Arts, an arts education facility that enriches the lives of the communities they serve through excellence in arts education. Through a music experience in the morning with Jordan Mroziak and Lisa Belczyk from Draper & Dots, the participants experimented with both old and new technologies, exploring alternate ideas about what it means to be musical beyond performance-focused goals. They finished the day by sharing what they learned throughout the program with their colleagues.

Teams from Propel Schools, Sharpsville Area, Mars Area, South Fayette Township, and Trinity School Districts shared their action plans and the results of their implementation. Their plans included a variety of arts-focused ideas:

  • Implementing Visible Thinking with world language and visual arts teachers
  • Creating a district-wide database of arts integration ideas and resources
  • Planning for a self-assessment of district arts programming
  • Designing a district-wide arts and enterprise center
  • Creating a STEAM-focused maker space

These graduates join a group of 64 other educators who have completed the CLAE program. They’re ready to lead the charge for arts education in their schools and districts with the ongoing support of AEC. We wish them luck and success!