The sound of the violin. The hue of watercolor paintings.
Research shows that combining art and music with education
improves a student’s education and achievement, but programs have
been cut from schools over the years. So, to spread awareness about
how important art and music are to students, this month has been
designated as Arts Education Month and Music in Our Schools
Month.
The sound of the violin. The hue of watercolor paintings.
Research shows that combining art and music with education improves a student’s education and achievement, but programs have been cut from schools over the years. So, to spread awareness about how important art and music are to students, this month has been designated as Arts Education Month and Music in Our Schools Month.
“Arts are absolutely necessary. It gives one more avenue for students to excel and to show their talent,” said Jackie Munoz, superintendent of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District. “Our Board is very dedicated to arts,” Munoz said.
Earlier this month, ASJUSD Trustees passed a resolution to put emphasis on the arts to “promote the celebration of the arts with meaningful student activities and programs that demonstrate learning and understanding in the visual and performing arts.”
“Our strategy or vision is to make sure we educate the whole child,” Munoz said. “This (resolution) reemphasizes that.”
San Benito High School art teacher John Robrock views art as a way for students to release emotions and express themselves.
“Art is a nice way break from academia,” he said. “… It’s a higher-order of thinking. Students are breaking down the world around them and putting it down on paper. It allows them to relate to the world around them.”
In 1996, the state Board of Education adopted Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, grades prekindergarten to 12th.
“Arts education offers students the opportunity to envision, set goals, determine a method to reach a goal and try it out, identify alternatives, evaluate, revise, solve problems, imagine, work collaboratively and apply self-discipline,” according to the California Department of Education.
Research supports such assertions about the importance of the arts – which includes dance, music, theater and the visual arts.
Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours across three days each week through at least one full year are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to win an award for school attendance, according to the study “Living the Arts through Language and Learning: A Report on Community-based Youth Organizations.”
A summary of findings from seven separate academic studies revealed that the arts: reach students who are not otherwise being reached; transform the environment for learning; and connect learning experiences to the world of real work, according to “Champions of Change.”
Robrock has taught art for 12 years and has seen students connect with art when they haven’t done so elsewhere. Art is more than just painting – it can be graphics or layout, he said.
“There’s always going to be a demand for artists,” Robrock said.
Arts can also be an important tool in reaching socio-economically disadvantaged students.
The levels of academic achievement recorded by high arts-involved students in the lowest SES quartile narrows the gap that they have with higher SES students.
Also, drop-out rates are co-related to levels of arts involvement among all students, even when controlled for SES, according to the study “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development.”
