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National Arts in Education Week

posted by School of Theatre on Tue, Sep 13, 2011
in School of Theatre

By Rachel Fink, director of Berkeley Rep School of Theatre

It's National Arts in Education week!

Never heard of it? Not surprising, as it is a relatively new initiative. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the resolution (H. Con. Res. 275) last year designating the second week of September as “National Arts in Education Week.” Introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier of California, the resolution succinctly defines the value of arts education, highlighting its considerable influence on students’ academic achievement and well-being as well as the economic and collective impact on their communities. It’s actually a great, simple arts advocacy resource (for a piece of legislation).

(Interested in learning more about arts education advocacy? I’ve listed some of my favorite resources below. They’re easy reads and I encourage you to take a look.)

Of course, the School of Theatre is front and center in this celebration of local arts activities for students of all ages. We kicked it off this weekend with multiple events (Teen Night, Sunday Sampler, Sneak Peak) and are currently gearing up to launch our fall classes on September 19, which coincidentally also marks the 10^th anniversary of the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre. 

With all of this energy circling around arts education and the School of Theatre, we figured, “What better time for us as an education staff to open up our doors and take you ‘behind the scenes’ at the School of Theatre?”

Over the next week or so, members of the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre staff will be sharing insights on our various programs and describing why we are so committed to arts education.

And what exactly have we done over the past 10 years?

Here’s just a taste:

1. Housed 17 distinct programs (Classes, Summer Theatre Intensive, Sunday Sampler, Outreach, Teacher Advisory Council, Teacher Training Workshops, Fellowships, Staff Professional Development, Docents, Student Matinee Series, Sneak Peak: Middle School Theatre Group, Teen Council, Teen One-Acts Festival, Teen Tech Tours, Teen Nights, Teen Arts Advocacy Committee, and Teen Council Alumni Network).
2. Premiered 20 original plays at the Teen One-Acts Festivals.
3. Produced 80 student-written productions. 
4. Trained 160 early career fellows in 15 disciplines.
5. Hired over 325 local faculty members and teaching artists.
6. Developed 375 distinct class curricula.
7. Graduated over 500 Teen Council alumni.
8. Offered 1,000 classes to 9,000 students.
9. Hosted 56,000 youth at Berkeley Rep performances.
10. Provided programming to 130,000 students in 430 local schools.
11. Served over 190,000 people.

It should be a fun week. 

Interested in learning more about National Arts in Education Week and Arts Education advocacy? Here are a few helpful resources. 

1. Alameda County Office of Education’s calendar of local National Arts in Education events. 
2. 10 Ways to Support Arts Education in Your Community.
3. American for the Arts Blog on Arts Education.
4. President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities recent report: Reinvesting in Arts Education.
5. 10 Salient Studies on the Arts in Education.