Arts Education Collaborative
The Arts Education Collaborative is pleased to announce the 2009 Leadership Academy. Each year up to twelve arts educators from the region are selected to participate in the Arts Education Collaborative Leadership Academy. This year-long intensive professional development experience is like no other. Participants will learn valuable teaching skills and acquire confidence needed to increase the visibility and credibility of arts programs in their schools, districts, and organizations. Additionally, they will develop their own artistic skills, collaborate and share best practices with other educators from across the region, and design a plan for their own learning.

Friday, May 8 is the deadline to submit an application for this year’s Leadership Academy. A copy of this year’s brochure and application can be found here. Please contact Betty Kripp or Deborah Boersma with any questions. Please note that the brochure and application are in PDF format. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, please go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html to download it for free.

Habla International Teacher Institute
Habla: The Center for Language and Culture is a cross-cultural space in Mérida, Mexico where artists, teachers, and education leaders gather from around the world to exchange ideas and best practices in the fields of literacy, language, and arts education.

In July 2009, Habla will host the Habla International Teacher Institute for educators interested in activating their own creativity and finding new ways to make the arts part of the daily life of their classrooms.  The institute will provide educators with an opportunity to exchange ideas internationally and participate in professional development workshops facilitated by leaders in the field of arts education from Brazil, Mexico, and the United States.

Beyond the professional development workshops and seminars, participants will explore numerous sites in the Yucatan Peninsula including Mayan ruins and small Mexican towns.

Dates: July 11th- July 19th, 2009
Read more about this unique professional development experience:
http://www.habla.org/en/for-educators/teacher-institute/
Are you an educator who would like to study Spanish through the arts in Mexico this summer?
http://www.habla.org/en/learn-spanish/courses-es/summer-immersion/

NEA- Recovery and Reinvestment Act Competitive Grants
As the NEA works out final guidelines on how they will provide competitive grants for about $30 million in economic recovery funds, here's the language they currently have on their website.  Please feel free to share with your networks as you see fit. Here is a link to the announcement and guidelines.
http://www.nea.gov/news/news09/nea-announces-recovery-programs.html

Application guidelines for two funding programs are being developed and will be posted as soon as completed and approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Synopses will be posted on Grants.gov by March 8; full guidelines on our site by March 18.

Funding Program: Competitive Grants
One-time grants will be awarded to eligible nonprofit organizations including arts organizations, local arts agencies, statewide assemblies of local arts agencies, arts service organizations, units of state (other than state arts agencies) or local government, and a wide range of other organizations that can help advance the goals of the Arts Endowment and this program. All applicants must be previous NEA award recipients in good standing from the past four years (NEA's forthcoming Recovery Act grant guidelines will provide details). Listings of grantees from the last four years can be found on our web site.

NEA Recovery website: http://www.arts.gov/recovery/index.html

The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible – New Book by Eric Booth!
Announcing America’s first ever book on teaching artistry, written by Eric Booth, its leading spokesman, and published by Oxford University Press. The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible is written for newcomers, experienced TAs, as well as administrators. It focuses on music, but it is a foundation text for work in all arts disciplines. Including a history and overview of the field, key elements of practice, useful guidance on issues such as effective communication, lesson design, training, time amd classroom management, gaining employment, partnering, advocacy, mentoring, and more in 34 chapters. With employment opportunities on the rise, within education and arts institutions, as well as in health care, community settings and businesses, this foundational guide to this burgeoning yet often disorganized field is more necessary than ever. Already widely endorsed, the inspirational The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible marks the coming of age of this essential, vital profession. Copies available from the publisher, Amazon, or at bookstores.

EdTA Student Essay Contest Winner Writes About the
Essential Value of Arts Education
The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) has selected the winner of its first student essay contest: sixteen-year-old Lauren Caddick, a junior at Forestview High School in Gastonia, North Carolina. The essay topic was “Why arts education is important to America’s future.” In her essay Caddick said, “In my life, arts education has played an irreplaceable role...Art is an essential part of human existence and I hope that one day, with the support of our nation’s leaders, every American will be as positively influenced by the arts as I have.” Her essay, along with the semi-finalist entries, are posted on the EdTA website at edta.org/.

EdTA launched the competition to support Arts Advocacy Day (March 30-31, 2009), organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Americans for the Arts.
For more information about Arts Advocacy Day 2009: http://www.artsusa.org/events/2009/aad/register.asp

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) is a professional organization for theatre education founded in 1929. EdTA’s mission is to create a network for theatre arts educators, students, professionals, and enthusiasts to share ideas and support the effort to have theatre arts education recognized in all phases of education and lifelong learning.

Southeast Center for Education in the Arts
ARTS & EDUCATION FORUM: ARTS INTEGRATION and TEACHER CHANGE
May 8-9, 2009 in Chattanooga, Tennessee

The Forum is for those who promote and oversee teacher growth and change (e.g. professional development providers, researchers, administrators, university faculty, teaching artists, lead teachers, and personnel from arts organizations and state departments).
 
CHANGING TEACHER PRACTICE
Persuading and enabling teachers to change their practice involves understanding how adults learn best and how they embrace or resist change. Keynote sessions will be conducted by Katie Dawson, Bridget Lee and Dr. Stephanie Cawthon from The University of Texas at Austin.
  
Some of the presenters include representatives from:
• Idaho State Dept of Education
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Visual Thinking Strategies
• Young Audiences’ Arts for Learning

The Forum will be held from 8:00 am on Friday to 6:00 pm on Saturday. The $150 registration fee includes breakfasts, lunches, and a Friday evening reception at the Hunter Museum of American Art. Deadline for registration is March 30 and is limited to 60 participants.
 
Detailed Forum information about the presenters and dilemmas, schedule, lodging, and registration is on the SCEA website: http://www.utc.edu/Outreach/SCEA/2009-Forum.php

New Carnegie Hall initiative: Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy
This spring Carnegie Hall presents Honor! A Celebration of the African American Cultural Legacy, curated by renowned soprano Jessye Norman. In support of this major initiative, Carnegie Hall has created a new website that charts the many paths of African American musical history. Visitors to the site will be able to trace the development of African American music from sacred traditions to Spirituals, blues to gospel, jazz to rhythm and blues, and all the way through rock 'n' roll and hip-hop. At each stop of this musical journey, photos and historical information are partnered with streaming audio, bringing this comprehensive timeline to life.

This online resource is available for free to the public, and will provide an invaluable tool for teachers and students around the world. http://carnegiehall.org/honor/history/index.aspx