Join us in working on these three goals:

·         Get the word out!

·         Encourage and promote local celebrations of arts education

·         Seek community commitments to support and improve high quality arts education for all students all year long – and have even more to celebrate next year!

Monday, May 5:  Arts Ed Washington’s Annual Meeting (tentative)

Friday, May 16:  OSPI’s 35th Annual Superintendent’s High School Art Show: Olympia

What can YOU do to support Arts Education Week? 

Things EVERYONE can do:

• Join ArtsEd Washington! Be part of the collective voice for arts education and support our statewide advocacy work. Join Today
• Attend the ArtsEd Washington Annual Meeting on May 5^th 2008.  This meeting is free and open to all, and a great opportunity to learn more. Subscribe to the ArtsEd eNews to receive an invitation
• Let ArtsEd Washington know about what's happening in your community. We'll post a list of cities and organizations marking the week and will have a calendar of arts education events also.
• Use the ArtsEd Washington toolkit to access information about Arts Education Week and download the Arts Education Week logo download the logo and link to the toolkit from your website!
• Write to the editor of your local paper. Explain why the arts are essential to the curriculum for all students or tell what significance the arts played in your own education. Click the link to easily access your local papers and get some talking points.  And let us know if your letter is published! 
• Go to the OSPI Arts Website for information and resources supporting arts education for all learners!

If you are a PARENT, you can:

• Go to a School Board and/or PTSA meeting. Tell them about the Governor's proclamation. Invite them to endorse it with a Board Resolution or make a similar commitment to mark the week in their school district.
• Meet with or e-mail your school principal. Thank them for supporting the arts, or encourage them to increase arts teaching in your child’s school. Find the latest arts education research
• Ask your child’s teacher how you can help support their arts teaching. Offer to prepare arts materials, research arts grants, find funding for art supplies, locate local teaching artists, or start a parent-docent art program.
• Make sure your school, principal and teachers know about the week.
• Visit your local Barnes & Noble and browse the arts education book recommendations provided by ArtsEd Washington. Find something to add to your bookshelf! 
• Make a significant commitment to increase the arts education in your community during the next 51 weeks.

 If you are a CLASSROOM TEACHER, you can:

• Promote Arts Education Week in your family newsletters and inform your students that it is Arts Education Week.
• Display your students’ art in the hallway. Have the students write about their artwork and the art concepts they learned.
• Take your students to a performance or exhibition.
• Bring in an artist to talk to your students about careers in the Arts.
• Integrate the arts into daily teaching: have students read a play or develop a play from a picture book, in small groups have students act out a historical event, have students write and share poetry, using observational drawing techniques have students record events in nature.

 If you are an ARTS SPECIALIST, you can:

• If your school has an arts event that week, inform your audience that it is part of the Arts Education Week celebration and mention it in your program.  Download the Arts Education Week logo.
• Arrange for a student group to perform in a public venue. Suggestions include: City Hall, your local library, at a school board meeting, at your local mall, or your nearest Barnes & Noble.
• Ask a local business to display student art, or better yet, get several businesses to do it and have an Art Walk!
• Display and share the Arts Education poster from OSPI Arts
• Make a significant commitment to increase the arts education in your school during the next 51 weeks.

 If you are a PRINCIPAL, you can:

• Download the Governor’s Proclamation and have a teacher, principal, or student read it at a school event.
• Celebrate the collective efforts that bring the arts to your school by recognizing and appreciating those who are significant to the work.
• Invite students and parents to submit letters to the school newspaper or bulletin, or speak at a school event, about why arts education is important to them.
• Write a Statement of Support for Arts Education similar to Dr. Terry Bergeson’s Statement of Support on the OSPI Arts website.
• Let ArtsEd Washington know what’s happening in your school and we will post your event in the Arts Education Week Event calendar.
• Make a significant commitment to increase the arts education in your school during the next 51 weeks.

 If you are a SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER, you can:

• Put Arts Education on your agenda for May; use the Governor’s proclamation as an opportunity to address arts education successes and needs in your district.
• Propose a matching resolution for Arts Education Week in your school board.
• Write a Statement of Support for Arts Education similar to Dr. Terry Bergeson’s Statement of Support on the OSPI Arts website.
• Ensure all the schools in your district know about the week.
• Post all Arts Education Week activities on the district website.
• Make an ongoing commitment to examine and increase the district’s emphasis on the arts during the following 51 weeks.  

If you are an ARTS ORGANIZATION, you can:

• Announce Arts Education Week in your curtain speeches.
• Add an insert to your program; put a link on your website.  You are welcome to download and use the Arts Education Week logo.
• Make sure your Board is informed!  Put it on the board meeting agenda for May.  Present info on your own arts education programs in the schools, or discuss arts education research, or invite board members to talk about the value of arts education in their own or their children’s’ lives.
• Do something extra for a school you are connected with: exhibit student artwork during Arts Education Week or provided a space for students to share their work, offer teachers a free class, give free or reduced tickets to a show, or reach out to a school you don’t currently work with.
• Let ArtsEd Washington know how your organization is celebrating Arts Education Week and we will post your program in our Arts Education Week Events Calendar.
• Look for opportunities to support arts education in your community all year long.

 If you are a LOCAL ARTS AGENCY, you can:

• Have your city make a similar proclamation for May 11-17, 2008. Remember to let us know and we'll post it!
• Make sure the schools and arts organizations in your region know about Arts Education Week. Post it on your website, mention it in city newsletters and at city events and use your circulation list to contact arts organizations. This is a great reason to make personal contact with your local school principals!
• Facilitate a local performance by local students at a public venue in your city. Possibilities include: city hall, library, local bookstore or other stores, at your local mall, at a school board meeting.
• Go to a School Board meeting. Tell them about the Governor's proclamation and your city's intention to make a similar commitment. Invite them to endorse with a Board Resolution or make a similar commitment to make the week in their school district.
• Find a way to mark the week in your community to celebrate the difference the arts make as part of a complete education and make a commitment within your LAA to increase your commitment to arts education in the following 51 weeks!