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 Port Chester, NY - The Port Chester Council for the Arts (PCCFA) will launch the first-ever NATIONAL ARTS IN THE SCHOOL DAY (NASD) on April 16, 2008, spotlighting the essential role of the arts in education.
The Port Chester public schools will be the first school system in the nation to participate in this pilot program that the PCCFA plans to market as a national initiative with the goal of giving thousands of children nationwide the opportunity to learn about and be personally inspired by the creative arts—at school.
“Exposure to the arts plants the seeds that inspire children, create careers and grow businesses,” said Ann Peterson, Executive Director of NATIONAL ARTS IN THE SCHOOL DAY for the PCCFA. “One day every year, all public and private schools across America will be encouraged to incorporate the arts into their classes, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Schools are free to make their arts initiatives as modest or ambitious as they wish and are able.”
To support schools and teachers nationwide in this ambitious effort, the PCCFA has created www.nationalartsintheschoolday.org. The site includes creative ideas and sample lesson plans for grades K-12 to guide teachers on how to bring the arts into core courses, and other ideas for school-wide events. The website also includes a detailed schedule of the launch day events in Port Chester, and more background about NATIONAL ARTS IN THE SCHOOL DAY. The PCCFA is assuming all costs for creating and marketing NATIONAL ARTS IN THE SCHOOL DAY, including providing schools with featured artists.
In Port Chester, the day’s events will begin with a 9:00 a.m. opening ceremony at the Port Chester Middle School, 113 Bowman Ave, attended by Port Chester Superintendent of Schools Dr. Donald Carlisle, Port Chester public school principals, state and local officials including Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano and Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla, members of the Port Chester Council for the Arts, and special celebrity guest artists, including Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Alexander, former head of the National Endowment for the Arts who will address guests and the media, and Academy Award-winning film director Chris Wedge. The ceremony will be followed by a creative presentation on the art of film animation by Wedge, the White Plains, NY-based director of Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Robots, and executive producer of the animated hit film Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, to an assembly of 256 7th graders.
Port Chester’s four elementary schools—King Street School, Park Avenue School, Edison School and the John F. Kennedy Magnet School—will feature professional artists from the PCCFA’s Literacy Through the Arts program presenting specially-created lessons. The Port Chester Senior High School will be host to a screenwriting workshop by the Jacob Burns Film Center of Pleasantville, NY; music composition workshops presented by Emmy Award-winning composer and Purchase College Music Professor Allyson Bellink; and an exploration of the Lewis and Clark expedition through paintings by historical artist Joseph Fama.
NATIONAL ARTS IN THE SCHOOL DAY is a free event. There are no costs to any school that participates, which makes celebrating the day possible for both affluent and modest school districts. “It’s not about money,” adds Peterson. “It’s about creativity and exposing children to arts experiences that could potentially change their lives, and that they may not have the opportunity to experience anywhere else.”
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