Idaho: Arts Powered Schools Summer Institute

2015 Arts Powered Schools participants; photo by Mike Shipman

A partnership of the Idaho Commission for the Arts (ICA) and the Idaho State Department of Education, the Arts Powered Schools Summer Institute convenes K-8 teachers, school administrators and members of ICA’s directory of teaching artists for a week-long exploration of connections between arts learning and other core curricula. Engaging a community of colleagues, participants create as they learn, performing and exhibiting their work as well as discussing their peers’ efforts. This interactive process of acquiring knowledge, skills and perspective is based on honest exchange of pedagogy, classroom strategies, personal reflections and other resources that enable outstanding arts-integrated teaching. The initiative continues into the school year as participants apply what they learned in the classroom. They also have the opportunity to collaborate with an ICA teaching artist to design and implement an interdisciplinary and standards based artist residency. Residency teams are invited to share their arts-integration “protocol” at the following year’s Summer Institute. ICA Arts in Education Director Ruth Piispanen can share more details.