By Peggy Burt, CAAE Project Manager
Engaged…Alert…Tuned in…Curious…Stretching…Growing…Discovering…
These are some of the words that come to mind, when I think about the day I spent in the Visual and Performing Arts classrooms at Glendale High School.
Glendale High School, Glendale, California is one of only five schools recognized by the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education with the Creative Ticket National School of Distinction Award this year. The California Alliance for Arts Education is pleased to promote this award for California schools that have done an outstanding job of making the arts an essential part of the education of their students.
You may be wondering… How does Glendale High School continue to offer a thriving arts program in these tough economic times? I posed this question to a number of the teachers at the school. Here’s what I found out…
- District and principal support and leadership. There is significant vision and buy-in from those in leadership positions who see the value of the arts in the lives of their students. More than half of the schools 3,400 students are enrolled in an arts course. There are 22 performing arts classes in the areas of dance, music and theatre and 33 classes in the visual arts covering everything from art history to design, painting, ceramics, sculpture and photography
- Continuity and commitment of the teaching staff. The dedication of these teachers was obvious, many of them with over fifteen years at Glendale High School. The teachers embrace the Visual and Performing Arts Standards and believe in sequential arts learning for all of their students. There was a strong sense of collegiality among the members of the department.
- Sustained, steady growth. As I looked at the very professional stage set for the student production of "Rumors", I was told that the theatre had started out with a few flats 20 years ago. Each year, they built a few more pieces. Now they have stairs and pocket doors and balconies that can be used in modules and changed out for new sets. The students do all the construction work. Glendale High School is credited as having one of the few three-year technical theatre programs in the state.
- Allocation of facilities. In one half hour period, I moved from a ceramics class where the students were learning about the form and style of Native American pots to the next room where highly accomplished visual artists in the AP class were painting. Colorful handmade masks covered the walls of an adjoining room, where the students were viewing slides of huge sculptures. The instrumental and vocal music classrooms were close by – and a bit further away, I visited the Little Theatre. You could almost feel the “buzz” in the air around these creative spaces.
- Partnerships. Glendale High School has ongoing partnerships with Disney Imagineering and the Pasadena Art Center College of Design. A unique mentoring program brings Art Center College of Design students into the art classrooms to provide inspiration, assistance and role modeling. The Center for the Arts and Arts Technology programs provides specialized learning opportunities for students who plan to complete at least three years of arts coursework.
- Success builds on success. The Los Angeles County Music Center awarded Glendale High the 2001 BRAVO Award for excellence in arts education.
- A supportive community. The parent population comes from richly diverse cultural backgrounds that share a love of the arts and support them in their children’s lives.
Congratulations to the students, teachers, parents and administrators of Glendale High School. We wish them many encores!
Thanks to the teachers who welcomed me into their classrooms:
- Ms. Sheldon-Williams – Vocal and Handbell Director
- Mr. Williams – Technical Theatre
- Mr. Briggs – Technical Theatre
- Mrs. Rose – Ceramics
- Ms. Butcher – Visual Arts AP
- Mrs. Rangel – Instrumental Music Director
- Mr. Khachmanyan -- Sculpture
- Mr. Dugger – Drama and VAPA Dept. Chair
For more information about Glendale High School’s Visual and Performing Arts programs, go to http://www.glendalehigh.com/vapa.html
Click here to download an application for the 2004 Creative Ticket Awards. Deadline is MARCH 1, 2004.