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Feature Article December 11

Feature Article December 11, 2002

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Learning Through the Arts Comes to SLPS, Clarendon Central

A program sponsored by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto that brings artists into schools in order to help teach the provincial curriculum in an innovative way has been confirmed for the next three years at Sharbot Lake Public School and Clarendon Central School in Plevna.

Starting in January, there will be nine visits to two different classes at each school over a four-month period. Three different artists, from different disciplines, will be coming to the schools to teach specific courses.

Last week, Kate Hilliard, a dancer from Ottawa who performs with Sylvie Desrosier, among others, met with teachers Heidi Tyler and Andrea Jones at SLPS to discuss teaching science to their Grade 1, 2, and 3 classes using an interactive movement-based approach.

Art instruction has taken a back seat in the school system for many years, and programs such as the Ontario Arts Councils Artists in the Schools Program have brought artists in for special projects. Teachers have been finding it hard to free up time for stand alone arts instruction with the demands of the new curriculum.

This is where Learning Through The Arts comes in, according to program manager Jean-Yves Lalonde, who accompanied Kate Hilliard to the information session in Sharbot Lake last week. The program is all about a new way to teach the existing curriculum, using the senses, using the body. And it has been shown that the program works, Lalonde said.

Lalonde pointed to the results of a three-year study by researchers at Queens University which demonstrated improved students results as a result of Learning Through the Arts.

Learning Through the Arts is currently operating in 170 schools in Canada, the United States and Europe. According to information provided by the Royal Conservatory, it was created in 1994 as a vehicle to enhance and transform public education. LTTA is based upon the idea that schools in which teachers make learning participatory, active, and connected to the personal interests and learning style of each student are the most effective in achieving academic, social and personal development in students.

SLPS and Clarendon Central PS school principal David Allison initially expressed interest in bringing LTTA to his schools in June of last year. He received confirmation his schools had been chosen this fall. Funding for the program is provided by the Royal Conservatory, the Ministry of Education and TD/ Canada Trust, and by the local schools.

According to David Allison, the Limestone School Board has picked up the schools' share of the cost, which is about $1500 for this year. They have been very supportive. The program will be in place at the two schools for the next three years.

Jean Yves Lalonde says the program is very interested in getting the local arts community involved. We are looking for artists of all kinds to join in the program, he said.

For Kate Hilliard, who has been teaching dance to children over the past few years and taught the LTTA program at a small school in the upper Ottawa Valley this fall, the essential part of the program is the fun that the students have in learning, and the exposure they gain to the arts. Some of these children have never been exposed to dance, and I am thrilled to bring dance to them.

Hilliard herself came from a small village, moving to Belleville at age 12 to pursue her interest in dance.

For teachers, the Learning Through the Arts program may bring another teaching strategy to help their students work through the provincial curriculum.

With the participation of the Government of Canada