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Amelia Cox, principal of Indianapolis Public School 88, is passionate about creating an arts-based learning environment in partnership with students, parents, teachers and community.

"We can kill it [learning], erase it, enhance it. There is no one way to do anything, there is no one right way. Because the arts appeal to many children it often is the bridge to their learning generally."

A decade ago, School 88, poor and urban with a transient population, chose to be a creative arts school and set about building active connections with several arts organizations and their education-outreach programs. When the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) announced its new arts education initiative on March 23, 2000, Mrs. Cox and her staff were determined to meet the May 1, 2000 deadline with an application so solid it would assure 88's inclusion in ISO's "Community Conservatory School Partnership Program."

A year later, Deborah Muterspaugh, one of the first grade teachers at School 88, reports, "Partnering with the Symphony is one of the best things to happen. As teachers, we were involved in the process of creating the curriculum for kindergarten and first grade. We could adapt and use the materials for our students' specific needs. We got materials we would not otherwise have. When I presented to other teachers, sharing with them what we've been doing in my classroom, they said, 'Oh, your kids must be advanced.' They were envying me. You don't know how that felt."

ISO Cellist Anne McCafferty and schoolchildren from
Skiles Test Elementary School, Lawrence Township, Indianapolis.
Image courtesy Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Indianapolis, like a lot of other communities, cut arts education from the curriculum. Richard R. Hoffert, president and CEO of the Symphony, addressed the issue: "Almost two generations of young people have missed the opportunity to develop a lifetime approach to music and the [other] arts that comes from a significant arts involvement at the elementary and secondary school level. The Community Conservatory concept will allow the Orchestra to step out of the safety of the concert hall and better infuse its members into all facets of the community. Such a program is unprecedented in our state and will place the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra among the nation's leaders in effective arts education."

Twenty-eight public and private elementary schools in Marion County applied. Only six could be chosen. "It was very difficult," recalls Beth Perdue Outland, ISO vice president for education, "but six is the optimum number to ensure continuation of the high level of attention and service the Symphony already had in place for its educational activities. We knew we had to build it right. We had to ensure stability and consistency in the partnership."

In early 1999, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra hired Artsvision to find out how the Orchestra could best meet the needs of Marion County schools and communities. They found schools eager to develop new and creative teaching strategies, teachers interested in using the arts to illuminate classroom concepts, administrators searching for programs to motivate and engage students in learning, and parents who want a rich, diverse and well-rounded education for their children.

In addition to IPS 88, the other participating schools are Fishback Creek Public Academy in Pike Township, IPS 21, Nora Elementary in Washington Township, Skiles Test Elementary in Lawrence Township and Valley Mills Elementary in Decatur Township.

Being chosen requires each school to make several commitments, including entering into a five-year, annually renewable contract with the intent of achieving school-wide participation in an arts-based curriculum.

Beginning with kindergarten and first grade teachers for 2000-2001, in each subsequent school year until 2005, one additional grade level will participate. "Whatever we do has to be cumulative and sequential," explains Ms. Outland. "This is not a program that you do for a year. It is a long-term commitment to a process. In the arts, we're attuned to the event. We don't usually work on building curriculum and relationships, but this program is all about communication."

Along with providing all the materials teachers and students need for each of the five units developed for kindergarten and first grade, the ISO specially trains its members and partner artists to work with each school's target classrooms throughout the school year.

Image courtesy Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

"Our children don't usually have opportunities to meet with artists live," comments Margie Dinn, School 88 kindergarten teacher. "For kids who spend a lot of time watching TV and almost living passively, it's exciting to see them face-to-face, working with live musicians. It was amazing to me how much the children got out of the school visits. For example, opposites is a difficult concept for kindergartners, but through the artists' use of music to show loud and quiet, fast and slow, the kids could internalize. Their creativity improved. They began to take a more active part in everyday life, in nature. They learned they could make music with their own bodies, with things they find, with things in nature. They learned how rain makes music."

"We see this [program] as a wonderful tool to enhance what we are already doing," said Beth Niedermeyer, principal of Fishback Creek Public Academy. "We know so much about how children learn. We feel strongly we have to reach the varying needs of children and one way is through integration of the arts to the whole curriculum. Parents are thrilled their children have this experience. It's enriching the homelife of our students' families. Children don't see the symphony only as something rich people go to. They realize playing an instrument is not out of their reach."

Ingrid Fischer-Bellman, a cellist with the ISO, is one of the artists who volunteered to participate in the first year of the program. She has signed up not only to continue working with kindergartners and first graders, but with second graders as well, and she intends to move right along to grade five.

"It is special to share with children how I feel about music," explains Ms. Fischer-Bellman. "Not only the way I play and prepare to play, but to capture for them the sense of wonderment and joy I felt about music when I was their age.

"I am learning to connect with kids and learning classroom management. It's very different from what I always do as a member of the symphony or as a teacher who gives private lessons, but I help the children learn how to apply being a musician to everyday life - the skills of doing, making music; the ways people communicate by a gesture, a glance; how to listen, work together. I show how the musician's and the "practical" world are alike."

Image courtesy Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

While those connected with the kindergarten and first grade phase are reflecting on how they might improve upon their first year's experiences, second grade classroom teachers have been working cooperatively to develop their curriculum. At the center of all this activity is Mitchell Korn, president of Artsvision.

"I admire and respect his patience in working with us," comments Ms. Niedermeyer. "He has the ability to bring his own experiences to our needs. He has an engaging, exciting, inspiring way of teaching. He makes it fun. Most important, he understands the curriculum. He understands how it's all related. He's not one of those pretending; with him it's the real thing. I believe in grassroots programs by teachers. It empowers them. This program has inspired the whole school staff to work collaboratively."

According to Ms. Outland, "Initial funding for the planning year and first year of implementation was provided by Mrs. Robert S. Eccles in memory of her husband, an educator. Lilly Endowment has provided additional support while the long term financial sustainability of the program is being secured."

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About the Author:

Rita Kohn is a freelance journalist and author of fourteen books and 20 produced plays. She is senior writer with NUVO Newsweekly of Indianapolis. Her new play, Boxes, will be presented Fall 2001 by the Acme Arts Society, Chicago, IL. Kohn is co-founder and resident playwright of the Indiana American Indian Theatre Company which performs at the Harrison Centre for the Arts in Indianapolis, and on tour. This is her first article for the Newsletter. She can be contacted by email rkohn@nuvo.net

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Resources:

The Community Conservatory website is at http://www.indyorch.org/community-frame.html

Regular contributor Alberta Moraine's article on Artsvision's educational approaches appears elsewhere in this issue of the Newsletter.