Arts in Education
How Hoonah City Schools is creating a template for incorporating arts in schools throughout Alaska and beyond.
A Community-wide Approach
Hoonah City Schools (HCS) is working hard to leverage a 5-year Assistance for Arts Education grant (U.S. Department of Education) through a multidisciplinary approach of embedding arts into all areas of learning. One of the foundational pillars of the program is including local artists in residence to teach students cultural and place-based art into their academics.
HCS is also working with local organizations and businesses to tie in area-wide initiatives and projects so that student learning is authentic, meaningful, and relevant. These partners bring the school talent, specialists, and outside connections that are rarely seen so tied into the local schools. It is a refreshing and invigorating model that opens the doors of the school to parents and community members, while extending student learning opportunities outside the walls of the classroom.
Why it Matters
We all know stories of why art is important in schools. From the neuroscience of brain plasticity, to the engagement of visual and tactile mediums, art is an expression of empowerment and agency in humans. Art is also tied to culture and place, and it is something that is best learned in a hands-on way, with caring instructors guiding student exploration.
In Hoonah, these deep bonds are being fostered through a dynamic engagement of local people willing to put time into the youth of their community. Instructors are either paid, or work through voluntary engagements, and they may also be sponsored by the local community partners that are engaged with the program.
Because of all of this, students are engaged with people they see on the streets, in the stores, and in community gatherings. Learning is expanded outside of the school, and brought into the world – it is meaningful and it is authentic.
All of this supports student academics by relating the exploration and practice of artistic principles to science, math, social studies, and language arts. Students are engaged in transferring and relating subjects through practiced skills, in conversations and relationships with caring adults, in iteration and reflection, and consideration of a real audience outside the normal teacher-student paradigm.
Creativity & Art with Technology
Lynx is working with HCS to both document this project, and teach students creative/artistic technology as a part of transference to 21st century learning skills. HoonahKids.org is a showcase website where projects are shared and those community partnerships are highlighted. Through the course of this year, students are learning the skills of photography and videography to tell these stories and others. Students will also be building their art portfolios.
Lynx is modeling curiosity, storytelling, and creative uses of technology to better engage students. We help to raise the bar in quality, through the process of iteration and careful consideration of the stories that need to be shared. We also provide learning opportunities based around creativity and hands-on learning where students can explore creative technologies and transfer their skills in art exploration into new or different ways.
An Open Invitation to Alaskan Schools
One very important aspect of this grant is the development of a set of tools that can help Alaskan educators incorporate and modify lessons learned from this exercise. HCS is working on a shared set of exemplar lessons for teachers to use, but also a set of strategies for working with partners and community members to engage within the school and extend the walls of student learning beyond the classroom.
HCS staff looks forward to partnering with districts who are prioritizing access to art and creativity, while leveraging community talent and resources.
Lynx looks forward to supporting the use of technology in creative, authentic, and meaningful ways for Alaskan students.
For more information, photos and videos, and to follow the project, please check out HoonahKids.org. We will publish more updates and resources become available.
