The goal of the Spencertown Academy’s Arts-in-Education program, now in its fourth year, is to enrich the educational experience and expand the cultural vocabulary of students in the Chatham Central School District. Planning meetings with classroom teachers revealed that an increased emphasis on mandated testing leave many feeling pressured to focus on core subject areas and “teach to the test.”

artsVOYAGE is based on a working partnership with classroom teachers and aims to integrate the arts into existing classroom curriculum, deepening student learning and creating a rich and well-rounded perspective. Under the direction of Thomas Lee and Dr. Mike Wallace, the 2008-2009 program was expanded to include grades two through six – involving over 600 students and 50 teachers. In each grade, the program is centered on a specific unit in the social studies curriculum such as ancient civilizations, world cultures, or the American Revolution.

During each unit students learn about history and other cultures through the experience of visual art, music, architecture, drama, and literature relating to the area of study. Performances, lectures, workshops, and hands-on activities with artists are woven into the school day, and each unit culminates in a school-wide festival attended by students, teachers, and parents. This year the whole community will be invited to experience the program in a series of open houses at Spencertown Academy where students will showcase their learning.

In grade three students explore the history, geography, and culture of Venice by creating miniature gondolas that sail along paper canals, listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed on period instruments, hearing traditional folk tales told in Italian, and donning handmade masks to perform a courtly dance alongside members of the New York Baroque Dance Ensemble. The Venetian Carnivale celebration that caps off the program even includes a taste of Italy in the form of cannoli pastries prepared by the students.

Fourth-graders enter the world of Revolutionary America. They learn about, and later practice, the tradition of the itinerant portrait painters or “limners”, and discover that portraits often reflected the sitters’ idealized image of themselves more than reality. Students explore the ambiguity of political values when they meet with the author to discuss a book about a young slave girl owned by George Washington. The “Boston Tea Party” celebration features students in mop caps and tri-cornered hats dancing to early American tunes performed on fiddle and concertina before enjoying an old-fashioned gingerbread dessert.

The approach to the exploration of ancient civilizations in grade six is more intellectually rigorous, in keeping with the ability of these middle school students. Students are immersed in epic myths from Mesopotamia, ancient Greece and Rome and study artworks and artifacts from the period.

In each programs, classroom teachers were an integral part of the experience; preparing students with the background and context they needed to get the most of the exposure to performances and visiting artists and later reinforcing the concepts illustrated.

Major funding for Spencertown Academy's Arts-in-Education Program in the Chatham Public Schools comes from
Sidney and Beatrice Albert Foundation, and T. Backer Fund. The program also receives generous support from the Chatham Education Foundation and Rheinstrom Hill Community Foundation and from our members.

Click here to make a contribution to artsVOYAGE today.