MARCH 2020 | EDUCATIONANDCAREERNEWS.COM
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INVESTING IN THE ARTS
Ben Platt
Discover when the Tony winner fırst fell in love with theatre
Learn why arts education desperately needs funding Read about the music classes changing lives
Studies Show Arts Education Is Crucial to Students’ Success What parent doesn’t treasure their child’s first finger paintings or macaroni masterpieces? These pieces of art are more than just refrigerator décor, they’re evidence of their progress in developing fine motor skills and a window into the way your child sees the world. Participating in the arts enables children to explore their creative talents and express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. It also builds their confidence, teamwork, and sense of accomplishment, which, in turn, helps with academic achievement and social emotional development. Despite all the advantages, many children do not have access to arts education, and too often, arts education is squeezed out of schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, students in high poverty schools are more than twice as likely to have no access to the arts. Research shows that students with few to no arts credits were five times less likely to have graduated from high school and were also less likely to pursue a bachelor’s degree. These trends indicate that arts education is an important component to a well-rounded education. This is why the fight to invest in arts education is so important. Leslie Boggs, President, National PTA
Arts Education Advocates Are Fighting for Today’s Youth
Kelly Fey Bolender Arts Education Program Manager, Americans for the Arts
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oung people engaged in arts education are more likely to have better life outcomes including higher SAT scores, stronger collaboration and creativity skills, and increased employability. Investing in arts education requires action on the local, state, and national levels to ensure every young person can reap the benefits from a well-rounded arts education. Arts education advocacy efforts extend beyond support for grants and assess-
ments from the Department of Education. In 2020, Congress instructed the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to explore the use of the arts in its juvenile justice programming, with input from the National Endowment for the Arts and arts stakeholders. In any given year, an estimated 2.1 million youths under the age of 18 are arrested in the United States, and approximately 1.7 million delinquency cases are disposed in juvenile courts annually. A multisystem effort is required to ensure our nation’s children avoid the justice system and are empowered to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives. There are many points of possible engagement with the arts across the entire juvenile justice system, ranging from
high-quality arts education for youth in state secure facilities, to the use of arts programs as an alternative to sentencing, to helping support successful re-entry into communities. Advocates encourage investment in arts-based juvenile justice programs through the Department of Justice to provide better outcomes for our nation’s most vulnerable young people. Americans for the Arts continues to serve as a leader in arts education advocacy by harnessing the collective impact of our grassroots advocates to push for increased funding and innovative policy making. Through these cooperative advocacy efforts, we will fight to ensure that every young person participates in a high-quality arts education, so that they may experience the transformational power of the arts. n
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Theatre Teaches Life Skills All Students Can Use Theatre education is about more than just the performance, because it helps foster important life skills like creative thinking and empathy. In the past decade, education has become increasingly focused on the workforce skills students need to be successful citizens. In studies and surveys, business leaders have repeatedly lamented the difficulty of finding workers who could think “out of the box” and creatively imagine new ideas and solutions. Theatre teaches these skills. Theatre is both an academic and arts discipline that not only allows for independent thinking, but strongly encourages it, through the application of the “Four Cs,” which are: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking,
and Communication. All of these skills help students succeed in college, career, and life. The Educational Theatre Association’s 2012 landscape survey of the field found that 95 percent of school administrators believe that theatre experiences improve students’ overall academic skills and helps increase their understanding of the world. Understanding, tolerance, and listening In these highly divisive times, theatre promotes understanding, tolerance, and listening. When a student steps onto a stage in character, they are “walking in someone else’s shoes” and, in doing so, must assume that character’s physical, emotional, and spiritual being in order to communicate and understand the context of the play’s story and the
PHOTO: EDUCATIONAL THEATRE ASSOCIATION
other characters who populate it. This ability is fundamental to fostering empathy. Access and equity challenges Still, theatre education faces challenges in our country. U.S. Department of Education data estimate that less than 30 percent of public high schools in high poverty areas include theatre instruction, and the number is even more grim in elementary schools: only 4 percent offer access to theatre. Theatre experiences should not just be for the privileged few. Every student deserves the opportunity to experience its joy and gain the workforce skills that will prepare them for whatever career pathway they choose to follow. n Jim Palmarini, Director of Educational Policy, Educational Theatre Association
LIGHTS, ATMOSPHERICS, CONTROL!
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Across the country, schools are struggling to maintain dramatic arts programs despite their positive impact on student lives. The disconnect between our love for the dramatic arts and our reluctance to fund dramatic arts programs in our schools is striking. According to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA), state funding
for arts programs has declined more than 40 percent over the last two decades while other activities, notably athletic programs, are often awash in money. Richard Omar, artistic director for the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NYCDA), sees this struggle firsthand. “As an acting conservatory and college, we meet incredibly talented and motivated high school seniors from across the country,” he says. “When they talk about their high school drama departments and teachers, we hear two main themes — life-changing support and very limited budgets.”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NYCDA
The Dramatic Need for Arts Funding
Building life skills What’s especially frustrating is the fact that these programs have a powerfully positive impact. “Students in the performing arts gain critical skills that enable them to better navigate through life by increasing confidence, emotional intelligence, resilience, creativity, discipline, and academic performance,” he points out. In an effort to help address the funding gap, NYCDA launched the “Your Start in the Arts” grant program in 2018 “to give young artists the opportunity to apply for funding grants on behalf of their high school drama programs” says Omar.
Their stories have been inspiring. “Drama club has made me more comfortable with public speaking,” writes one student from the small town of Chazy, New York. “It has also built my confidence up.” But the same student notes that “we have to fund ourselves. We pay for everything, the school doesn’t give us any money.” The need for funding is a theme throughout all of the grant applications NYCDA receives each year. A student in La Puente, California writes that they would “fix the little theatre we have so we can have our auditions held there,” if they received a grant, noting that “the adviser we have has been great enough to pay for everything.” Repairs to aging theatre space and replacing old equipment are recurring themes, with some noting they would use the money for the absolute basics of theatre production. For example, a student from Bayonne, New Jersey writes that they would “buy lights for our blackbox theatre, which is actually a classroom.” A student from Walkersville, Maryland writes, “A lot of our microphones and sound equipment do not work, we lack many lighting fixtures standard in newer schools, and several of the shelves, tools, and materials we use are handmade by students and volunteers.” Supporting dedicated teaching sta�f These funding gaps explain why NYCDA
received nearly 1,000 submissions in the grant program’s inaugural year, prompting them to double the number of grants they offered. “There is a critical need for funding at the secondary school level,” Omar adds. “Financial support for these programs is dwindling or being eliminated altogether.” And many dramatic arts programs need the money desperately. Omar notes several instances where Your Start in the Arts grants are literally saving the day: A school in Montgomery, Alabama lost its campus to a fire and currently has no performance space in its temporary facilities; it has used the grant money to purchase an ETCnomad Education System, giving them the flexibility to move from venue to venue; a school in La Habra, California has used the money to give thousands of elementary school students a chance to see their productions; a school in Estes Park, Colorado will finally be able to install a video monitor system for their backstage area. These are vital investments, but it’s also clear there’s more at stake for students than offering engaging extracurriculars. “I can honestly say [the drama program] saved my life,” writes a student from Suffolk, Virginia. “Without this program and our director, I might not be here right now.” n Jeff Somers MEDIAPLANET • 5
Platt counts two role models from his youth — both leaders in theatre programs — who helped shape him into the professional he is today. One was the director of the after-school theatre program he attended at age six. Platt describes the environment as warm and absent of fear, which helped him and his peers excel. The other was his high school theatre director. “She showed me what it meant to show up and be a professional, and to care about how your other cast mates and teammates are faring as much as you care about how your performance is being perceived,” he says. “That was a big lesson for me.”
In an interview, Tony Awardwinning actor and singer Ben Platt explains the important role theatre played in how he grew up and how those lessons apply to everyone, no matter their future career.
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wo of the most recent and notable characters played by actor and singer Ben Platt are similar in that they long for social connection and meaning in their communities. In the hit Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” Platt won a Tony for his portrayal of an anxious teenager who befriended the family of a deceased peer to feel less alone. And in Netflix’s “The Politician,” the 26-year-old is an ambitious high school senior determined to become student
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body president and eventually president of the United States. Luckily, Platt in real life has the support of his artistic community. Platt counts himself “lucky” to have been given the opportunity to participate in Theatre growing up. “I had the passion for it and a lot of outlets,” says Platt, who grew up in Los Angeles. “And I know that’s not the case for a lot of young people.” He adds, “I think it taught me how to communicate in an emotional way.”
PHOTO: JULIAN BROAD
Ben Platt on Finding Friends and Purpose in Theatre
Re�lecting on lessons Platt says being in theatre as a kid taught him important lessons he’s carried on in his career, and that could ultimately be applied anywhere collaboration is necessary. “It’s so much about creating a family, and trust is necessary to do something like that. You have to hold yourself accountable and have the backs of everyone around you — because in a performing scenario there’s a lot of pressure,” he explains.
Passing on wisdom Platt received the 2019 Ted Arison Young Artist Award for his contributions to theatre — an accolade he considers himself “unworthy” of, but is grateful for. “I think there are so many people around me who are doing so much more groundwork than me,” says Platt. “But if anything [the award] lit a fire under my butt to contribute and find opportunities to work with young people.” He adds that the recognition reminds him “where [his] passion came from.” “I think on a personal level, most of the communities in my life have been because of arts,” Platt says. “I think art is a lot of things, but first and foremost it’s really unifying.” n Melinda Carter
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Investing in music education is vital because of the important life skills these classes teach students of all ages. Music belongs to all of us. It is a part of who we are. Whether it’s the mother singing a nighttime lullaby to her child or the teacher using the lyrics of a song to help a student better understand their emotions, music matters in our daily lives. This is why investing in music education and the creative arts should be our highest priority. Inside elementary and middle school classrooms across the United States, music education provides the perfect laboratory for learning. A student who stands up to perform their very first solo builds a stronger sense of self-confidence. The group of students who worked together to compose their own song have learned the value of collaboration and teamwork. Studying the work of composers from different ethnic backgrounds and cultures celebrates diversity, history, and inclusion. The elementary and middle school students we teach today are the creative minds of tomorrow. Today’s students will eventually become productive, competitive, and compassionate members of society at large, which means that on a much more expansive level, the creative arts play a vital role in our nation’s health and collective well-being. Kristin Clark Taylor, Senior Advisor, QuaverEd
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The Transformative Power of Music Class
PHOTO: ROBB COHEN PHOTOGRAPHY
In the Classroom and Beyond, Music Makes a Difference
Music education has the power to change students’ lives. Music educators and administrators saw music education’s impact at the national music education conference last fall in Orlando, where a school
ensemble called 3 Strings UnLoCkeD performed. This group from Southwest High School in Minnesota is comprised of students with disabilites. Under the direction of Ruth LeMay, director of Guitar Education at Southwest, students learn musical skills using
a form of music reading she developed. The federal education bill, called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed into law in 2015, explicitly names arts and music as a part of a wellrounded education for all students. This is a critical opportunity for stakeholders to ensure that music education is fully funded and supported at the local, state, and national levels. Providing equal access to high-quality music education for all students, regardless of income level, background, or ability, is essential for ensuring all students stand on equal footing to contribute fully to making their world a better place. As the parent of one of LeMay’s students said, “Michael finally fell in love with high school, and I truly believe it all started with that little music class. Ruth made his life bigger.” Music changes lives indeed. n Kathleen D. Sanz, President and Board Chair, National Association for Music Education
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Human beings have always created and enjoyed art, and research shows this is about more than just pleasure — it’s about health. Americans from all backgrounds can profit from understanding and valuing the arts’ tangible benefits, for multiple sectors of the economy, for communities of different sizes and geographies, and for health and human development. In 2019, research found that fourth and fifth graders from disadvantaged backgrounds who attended arts field trips at a multi-arts facility in Atlanta showed fewer disciplinary infractions and greater levels of tolerance, social perspective-taking, and conscientiousness than similar students who did not experience such events. And that’s just one example. Recently, teams from the Arts Endowment and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) co-authored and published a journal article titled, “Creating Activity-Friendly Communities: Exploring the Intersection of Public Health and the Arts.” This year, with input from task force members, the Arts Endowment will produce a research report about the arts’ potential benefits for pain management and the prevention and treatment of substance abuse disorders. Sunil Iyengar, Director of the Office of Research & Analysis, National Endowment for the Arts
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The Hidden Advantages of Art and Design in Higher Education More and more, employers are looking for the kind of skills students learn when pursuing an arts and design degree in college.
PHOTO: MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
Research Shows Arts Have a Positive Impact on Every Aspect of Life
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igher education is a significant investment of both time and financial resources, and today more than ever, art and design is a wise choice. Art and design is a rapidly growing sector that has a significant impact on the economy and has played a critical role in innovation and start-up
culture. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reports (May 2018), there are currently more than 5 million people employed directly in art and design occupations across multiple industries. The ability to think creatively, problem solve, and innovate are essential skills in today’s workplace.
According to a recent study by the Conference Board, creativity and innovation are among the top five skills employers look for in a candidate. Students of art and design learn through making, engaging in a rigorous and focused study with like-minded mentors and peers, research, and creative play and risk-taking, all of which help teach critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These prepare graduates for the creative careers of today and the future. “Our students, regardless of their choice of major, engage in project-based learning,” said Stephen Beal, president of California College of the Arts. “They gain empathy and an appreciation of how different disciplines bring distinct approaches to solving complex realworld problems.” n Deborah Obalil, President & Executive Director, Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD)
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arbershop singing is the heart and soul of Sweet Adelines. In this American art form, singers perform four-part harmonies, all a cappella, producing a unique overtone sound. From leadership to community outreach to resources for music educators, Sweet Adelines offers infinite opportunities for personal and musical development. Join a Sweet Adelines International chorus or quartet and discover how the music, harmony, community, and friendship add a new dimension to your life.
Life on a High Note.
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