WUSD ARTS NEWSLETTER

Newsletter for Visual and Performing Arts Developments

iAspireA Movement in Arts Integration

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9291 Old Redwood Hwy, Bldg 500 Windsor CA 95492 707.837.7700

Windsor Unified Wins $1.7M in Arts Grant Competition

In late November, Windsor Unified School District (WUSD) was notified by the California Department of Education of

their successful application for a Student Support and Enrichment (SSAE) Grant. The iAspire project (Internet-based Arts:

Successful Pedagogy through Integration, Research and E-learning) is currently underway and many lead and

participating teachers have joined the project team. In this rare opportunity, teachers are being paid extra duty hours to

inform the curriculum development process, participate in voluntary arts integration trainings, and pilot the new arts

integrated curriculum. While the grant window ends in September 2019, the iAspire project will continue, creating a

sustainable model that will allow teachers to integrate the arts across content areas and become leaders in arts integration

in their respective schools and in the county.

With the iAspire grant, WUSD is able to accelerate the strategic plan for the arts and address three years of arts

integration goals for grades TK-5. The project will provide nearly 500 iPads and arts software as well as new arts supplies

that support standards-based learning in dance, media arts, music, theatre and visual arts. The grant also provides for

teacher professional learning in strategies to integrate the arts with WUSD’s English/Language Arts (ELA) curriculum at

all sites including Cali Calmecac.

The iAspire project builds on WUSD’s successful partnership with Windsor Arts Now to create an arts action plan,

adopted by the Windsor School Board in January. According to WUSD Superintendent Brandon Krueger, “The Windsor

Unified arts action plan is a clear roadmap to delivering arts education for students. We know that the arts are essential to

a well-rounded education." The action plan identifies grades TK-5 as the first priority for enhancing the district’s arts

programs, and that’s exactly where iAspire begins. All elementary schools in the district will receive new books, materials,

equipment and supplies that address identified arts needs at the school. On a voluntary basis, elementary teachers will be

paid to complete online and face to face learning in the arts that will empower them with arts integration strategies to

boost student achievement in the arts and ELA, a proven method to boost student engagement and academic success.

To support this work, Windsor Unified is partnering with a nationally recognized project team that has successfully

implemented multimillion-dollar arts grants in other districts around the country: Big Idea Arts and Education Consulting,

CRT Creative and Education Design. Their efforts in successful multimillion-dollar federal grant projects have led to

significant student achievement in the arts and ELA, including a 25% increase in student writing scores. They will be

working in collaboration with the WIndsor Arts Now Community, and the WUSD Visual and Performing Arts Facilitation

team led by Pulse Arts.

There are still many open positions for Lead and and Participating teachers, so please contact Human Resources if you are

interested in this exciting paid professional development opportunity.

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In the early 2000s, a group of Windsor Middle School parents

wanted to support the improvement of Windsor High School's music

program. Their students had enjoyed band at Windsor Middle

School, and they hoped to see a well articulated program established

at WHS.

At the time, WHS and WMS principals Jeff Harding and Loren

Barker fully supported these efforts and Windsor Advocates for

Music (WAM) was formed. This arts advocacy group was composed

of the music teachers and a few parents, including Joella Olsen.

With the support of Windsor Advocates for Music and WUSD,

band, strings and chorus are now offered to all 6th through 12th

graders. A student can learn an instrument starting in middle

school and continue to take music performance classes all the way

through 12th grade. Other music classes such as Chorus, AP Music

Theory, Beginning Guitar, and Drumline are electives at WHS,

while piano and ukuleles are taught at WMS. Additionally,

classroom music is part of the curriculum at Brooks Elementary

School.

In early 2016, Joella Olsen invited arts specialists from across the

district to discuss an "arts for all" movement. With the support of

the California Alliance for Arts Education (CAAE), WAM evolved

into Windsor Arts Now (WAN), a local advocacy network. There

was new energy from teachers, board members and site

administrators, and CAAE provided mentoring, training and some

grant funding to support marketing and community involvement.

The outcome of these new energies was the drafting of a strategic

arts plan addressing visual art, music, theater and dance. The plan

was adopted by the Windsor School Board in January 2018 for

phased implementation and gives the District a blueprint for moving

forward with increased access to arts education across grade levels.

The District Arts Plan can be found at www.wusd.org. Phase III of

the Plan will be introduced this spring.

Windsor Arts Now supports the District in its efforts to improve arts

programs in Windsor schools. To find out more about Windsor

Arts Now and how you can be an advocate for the arts,

contact them at windsorartsnow@gmail.com

Over 10 years of arts advocacy

The History of Windsor Arts Now In January 2019, the Luther Burbank Center for the

Arts gave a 3-day Mariachi intensive. This intensive

spearheaded by LBC and local Mariachi driving force

Jose Soto also included Dr. Jeff Nevin, professor of

Mariachi Studies at Southwestern College and author

of the music books, Mariachi Mastery. This class was

attended by Cali Band Director Tamah Hulett, WHS

Band and Strings Director Erica Dori and Windsor

Arts Now representative Joella Olsen. The class

covered history, repertoire, instrumentation, and

playing technique. Each day ended with a Mariachi

"jam session" as participants played traditional

Mariachi songs included in the Mariachi Mastery

books.

On February 2, Pulse Arts hosted the "Why Arts

Matter" community arts event at Mattie Washburn

Elementary School. Windsor High School and Nueva

School for the Arts student Jason Montoya alongside

his father, Alejandro Montoya, led Mariachi Juvenal

Aguascalientes in a community performance. The

Montoyas established Mariachi Juvenal

Aguascalientes as a way to introduce younger

generations to the world of Mariachi music and

expose youth to an important aspect of Mexican

culture. They performed alongside the Cali Calmecac

Band, led by Tamah Hulett, who has worked tirelessly

to provide high quality music education to Cali

students.

WAN and the District are inspired to keep this

Mariachi effort going and hope to purchase some

specialized instruments with Vintners Grant funds to

support Mariachi education at Cali.

Mariachi in Windsor

9291 Old Redwood Hwy, Bldg 500 Windsor CA 95492 707.837.7700

EVENTSMonthly newsletter for Visual and Performing Arts Developments

March

3/1 Windsor Town Talent Show, 7:00,

Community Center

3/6 WHS Music Pasta Feed, Fundraiser and

Music Showcase

3/8 Town of Windsor Art and Floral Show

Reception, 5:00, Huerta Gym

April

4/11 WHS Theatre Program presents Our Town,

7:00, WHS

4/12 WHS Theatre Program presents Our

Town, 7:00, WHS

4/14 WHS Theatre Program presents Our

Town, 2:00, WHS

4/15 WCE Spring Concert, 9:00, WCE

4/17 WHS Product 2019, Visual and Media Art

Exhibition, WHS, all day

4/17 Choir Festival, 7:00, WHS

4/18 WHS Product 2019, Film Festival and

Media Arts Showcase, 6:00, WHS

4/19 WHS Product 2019 Performing Arts

Showcase, 6:00, WHS

4/19 Brooks Arts Day

4/24 WMS Chorus Spring Concert, 6:30, WMS

May

5/2 Spring Band Concert, Cali

5/4 Windsor Day Parade, 9:00 am, Town of

Windsor

5/8 Spring Festival, 1st and 2nd grade, Cali

5/15 WHS Band, Strings, Chorus, Drumline

Spring Concert, 7:00, WHS

5/16 Brooks Chorus Performance (before Open

House)

5/16-5/18 WHS Dance Arts Spring Concert,

7:00, WHS

5/16 Living History Presentation, Cali

5/20 Dancers Unite! Performance Showcase, all

day, WHS

5/22 WMS Strings Spring Concert, 6:30, WMS

5/22 Spring Festival, 3rd and 4th grade, Cali

5/23 WMS Band Spring Concert, 6:30, WMS

5/23-5/24 Charlotte's Web, 7:00, Brooks

5/24 Community Arts Showcase, 6:00 pm,

WHS

Upcoming Events

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STEAM at WHS: A Nueva School for the Arts and Axis STEM collaboration

In early October, Sean Vezino program coordinator for the Axis

STEM California Partnership Academy began a collaboration with

professional puppet maker, Lex Rudd, and a team of students to

create a large scale puppet for the Nueva School for the Arts

production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Rudd studied

interactive art at the University of Wales, later enrolled in a special

effects program at South Bank University in London, and holds a

degree in engineering. She was a participant on Jim Henson's

Creature Challenge on SYFY, and later worked for the Henson studio

as a "creature maker". She also did work for Terry Gilliam's "The

Brothers Grimm" and the comedy short, "The Life of Leopold," and

currently works out of her studio in Forestville. Rudd came to

Windsor High School to work with about 10 Nueva School for the

Arts and Axis STEM students on a collaboration to design and

construct a large mobile puppet for the character Aslan in The Lion,

The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Students worked many after-school

hours to model and construct the puppet in time for opening night.

Rudd came and worked directly with the team and coached them

throughout the process alongside Vezino. This work-based learning

collaboration gave students an opportunity to work alongside an

industry professional and create something for a live audience. The

beautifully designed and painted puppet stole the show.

9291 Old Redwood Hwy, Bldg 500 Windsor CA 95492 707.837.7700