School Districts Join Kennedy Center Arts Education Partnership

The Gold Coast Arts Center, an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: Partners in Education program, today announced the addition of two new public school partners, North Babylon and Uniondale, according to Regina Gil, founder and executive director of the Great Neck-based nonprofit arts organization. The Gold Coast Arts Center is one of the original members of the Kennedy Center affiliation dating back to 1996 and is one of two such partnerships in New York State.

“We are honored to be part of this collaboration and know we are fortunate to have Kennedy Center teaching artists, as well as local master teaching artists, demonstrate the methods of integrating the arts in regular classroom curriculum for our partner school districts,” said Ms. Gil, an artist, and former art teacher and arts education professor. “Studies have time and again proven how effective the arts are in advancing student creativity and excellence in all academic subjects. The ability to reach students who have different learning needs that can be enhanced by these workshop methods has been proven over the years, and we are happy to be able to share the knowledge we gain through our Kennedy Center seminars with our regional schools.”

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: Partners in Education program was created to assist arts organizations in developing and extending partnerships in local school systems to provide professional learning in the arts for teachers so that they may incorporate the arts into the teaching of core curriculum subjects. Professional development of teachers is accomplished through the use of hands-on workshops, planning strategy sessions, follow-up consultation, and ongoing communication to assist Partnership Teams in program and partnership development.

Based on conversations with the North Babylon and Uniondale school districts by Sonia Arora, Director of Outreach at the Gold Coast Arts Center, school personnel expressed a need to offer music and art teachers tools and techniques to engage students with special needs, like autism. As a result of this needs assessment and through the efforts of Ms. Arora and the other members of the LI partnership, such as Ben Wiley, Director of Art and Digital Instruction at Plainview-Old Bethpage School District, a day-long session will take place on February 5, 2019 with two local teaching artists whose focus will be on special education and the arts. Additional workshop sessions will be planned throughout the remainder of the school year to incorporate the arts across a wide range of curriculum at every grade level. Ms. Arora welcomes new members of this partnership, which include Kim Lowenborg-Coyne, Director of Art and Music in North Babylon, and Kelvin Jenkins, Director Fine Arts Administrator of Uniondale. “Both Kim and Kelvin bring a wealth of experience and are passionate about making art, music, literature a vital part of children’s lives,” said Ms. Arora.

About the Gold Coast Arts Center

Gold Coast Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting the arts through education, exhibition, performance, and outreach. Located on the North Shore of Long Island, it has brought the arts to tens of thousands of people throughout the region for over 20 years. Among the Center’s offerings are its School for the Arts, which holds year-round classes in visual and performing arts for students of all ages and abilities; a free public art gallery; a concert and lecture series; film screenings and discussions; the annual Gold Coast International Film Festival; and initiatives that focus on senior citizens and underserved communities. These initiatives include artist residencies, after-school programs, school assemblies, teacher-training workshops, and parent-child workshops. The Gold Coast Arts Center is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education program, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. More information can be found at www.goldcoastarts.org.

Photo caption: Third grade students present their creative writing, Myths from around the World, at the Judy Jacobs-Parkway Elementary School in the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District. Photo credit: Gold Coast Arts Center.