A MEETING!

from Jessica Macie via the facebook group:

Hi All,
I was asked if I'd be willing to post this announcement, here it is:

From: Katherine Stevens at St. Andrew's Episcopal School
Sent: Feb 27, 2009 9:24 AM
Subject: alumni meeting regarding arts/dance

St. Andrew's Episcopal School appreciates the alumni's interest in the arts at St. Andrew's. Please come to a meeting with Joanne Beach, Head of the Upper School; John Holden, Assistant Head of School; Ritchie Porter, Head of the Performing Arts Department; and Mark Segal, Head of the Middle School, to learn about the 2009-2010 performing arts program with a focus on the dance program: Friday, March 6 at 8:00 - 9:00am (place TBA).

To assure we hold this meeting in an appropriate space, please RSVP to Katherine Stevens, 301-983-5200 ext. 264.

From Rebecca Cobbs ('04)

Dear Mr. Kosasky,

It has come to my attention that during these tough economic times, St. Andrew’s had made cuts to the dance program. I understand that something had to be cut. And I understand that someone will be unhappy with any cut. However, I truly think that it is essential to keep at least one mandatory dance class for the middle school.

Cutting the dance program sends the wrong message about the value of dance. It tells students that dance is less important than music, drama, religion, and P.E. While I disagree with this message, for me, it is not the real reason the dance program should remain in its entirety. It is what everyone learns from a dance class that is important. After all, the whole point of a St. Andrew’s education is to provide students pathways to explore and also the skills to then choose their own values.

As you may remember, I was a St. Andrew’s lifer, attending St. Andrew’s from sixth through twelfth grade (although now with the lower school, that sounds like nothing). I actually still remember my sixth grade dance class. I had never danced before, and I had no idea what the expectations would be. I remember the class gave me an opportunity to see a different side of my classmates. We broke into random pairs and groups to choreograph our own dances and I met new people. As I went through the dance program, sparked by that class, I learned more. It helped me learn to ignore what others think (since certainly there is a stigma around dance at St. Andrew’s- which makes it even more important to show that the administration values the program). I learned the athleticism of dance, its combination of the artistic and the physical. Gradually, I came to respect the nuances of an art form I previously knew nothing about.

I understand that some people think dance classes are and were dumb. Frankly, I think that religion classes were dumb. But of course, they weren’t dumb; I just didn’t like the subject. Even though I disliked religion classes, doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn anything valuable from the ones I was forced to take. When students choose to attend St. Andrew’s they sign on to all the pillars of the school, because St. Andrew’s wants to create a well-rounded, respectful, and thoughtful student. For me, I had to sit through religion class. For others, they had to sit through a dance class. In the end, I think we are all better for it.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Just to give you an update, I just graduated Middlebury College. I am moving to Boston this weekend. I don’t have a job yet, but I plan to go to law school in a year and a half, so I will figure out some way to pay the bills until then. I look forward to reunion.

Good luck guiding St. Andrew’s during this tough time.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Cobbs

From Tracey Bachman ('04)

Mr. Kossasky, 

      It has come to my attention that an aspect of the St. Andrew’s curriculum, non-elective middle school dance, as been eliminated for the upcoming year.  I understand that with the state of the economy, cuts have to be made, however I urge you not to make them at the expense of the student’s unique education that they receive at St. Andrew’s.  By taking away any St. Andrew’s program, in this case, middle school dance, I believe St. Andrew’s is separating, and thus weakening, the four pillars of academics, arts, athletics, and spirituality, that are meant to be equal in creating a well-rounded education for growing students.  This is a founding principle of the school that I believe makes it stand out among the other choices of private institutions in are area. 

           

      Middle school is a very important time for students; they learn the fundamentals of all the aspects of their future education, which are then continued in high school.  In high school, students do not have as much time to do all the programs that St. Andrew’s has to offer, so they must pick and choose based on what they are interested in.  If students are not given the opportunity to try out dance, or any other form of the arts for that matter, until high school, the number of participants will drop.  This will be due to the fact that they are unfamiliar with dance and subsequently choose an art that they are more comfortable with, because they had been introduced to it early on.  Exposure to the arts early on, such as in middle school, I believe is crucial in a child’s development.  It teaches tolerance, acceptance, and appreciation of a field that, I will admit, is difficult to understand when first looking at it.   

      I entered St. Andrew’s in 6^th grade, and attended the school until I graduated in 2004.  From what I remember of the schedule in middle school, students attended a different arts class for half of a trimester.  Those classes were music, which was divided up into performing and instrumental; visual, which was divided up into 3-Dimensional and 2-Dimensional; drama; and finally, dance.  Looking back on this schedule, I believe that this was an excellent idea for the growing middle school students.  Each student was given a taste of all the different art programs that are offered by St. Andrew’s, and have the opportunity to be taught by the very talented, and encouraging, arts teachers that we have at our school.  After receiving a glimpse of what was offered in the arts department during middle school, high school students were allowed to choose one or several areas to pursue further in their rounded education that St. Andrew’s offered.  This system allowed young middle school students to try out, for a short period of time, every discipline of art.  I believe this same idea was used in middle school sports programs as well, and achieved the same type of beneficial results, allowing students to refine and focus their interests in a particular area once they reach high school.  If students were not given this opportunity to ‘try out’ all aspects of the arts department, many would have gone on to high school not experiencing all that the arts have to offer. 

      I would like to share with you my own experience in the arts classes during middle school.  I have always been interested in the visual arts from a very young age, so when I entered middle school I already knew that I wanted to take as many visual art classes as possible; and, to be honest, I was not thrilled to be taking any of the performing arts classes.  However, during a drama class, I became very interested in theater, especially the visual aspect of it that takes place behind the scenes.  This was an area of the performing arts that I never thought of becoming involved in before, and I suddenly found myself wanting to take more classes in technical theater, which I did once I reached high school.  Tech Crew was a huge part of my St. Andrew’s career, and is filled with many fond memories, as well as an excellent basic educational background of theater that I continue to use to this day.  Had it not been for a brief exposure in middle school to technical theater, I would not have become involved in it in high school.  Thinking about my experience, and how much it helped mold me into the person I am today, I am extremely saddened that current middle school students will not have that same opportunity that I did in finding an interest in something unexpected, such as dance, that they were not previously aware of.   

      I strongly urge you to reconsider your decision of eliminating any aspect of the St. Andrew’s curriculum.  I understand the financial issues that the economy is in right now, and the impact that it has on a small private school like St. Andrews.  However, surely there could be other steps that the school can take that would avoid weakening the four pillars that St. Andrew’s was founded on, and still allow students to receive a well-rounded education.     

Thank you for your time and consideration. 
 

                                                Sincerely, 
 

                                                Tracey Bachman

From Amanda Moodie ('04)

Here's an email i received from Amanda Moodie ('04) with some interesting insights to what's going on.  I encourage you all to respond to this post (as i plan on doing) so we can truly have this be a dialogue!

***

Hey Sarah,

I'm working on a draft of a letter - it's at home and I'm at work - but I wanted to share some clarifications. Post this to the blog if you like, or keep it to yourself, or whatever.

I've been thinking a lot about this situation ever since I got your message and I'm really torn about my feelings. Let's be clear: I am not uncertain at all, in any sense, about the importance of art education or of dance programs in schools. People on the blog have spoken far more eloquently and with more expertise than I can about the benefits it offers to students. The fact that St. Andrew's has a program at all, and the strength of that program, is part of what sets us aside from other independent schools in the area (you will note, for example, that Maret doesn't even say anything about the arts on its homepage and says nothing about dance at all, anywhere). Dance classes were a fun activity for me, but I know that for many others, they were a saving grace during middle and high school. So of course I don't condone the elimination of middle school dance classes.

But I think I'm in a different position from many other alumni, because since my mother still works there, I still encounter the workings of the school on a daily basis. (That administration so many students - and apparently, other alums - bash all the time? Yeah, that's my mother.) I've seen how many difficult decisions Kosasky et al. have had to make over the past few months. And this is the dilemma that I keep running up against: The dance program has not been cut because anyone feels that that money would be better spent in other areas, i.e. athletics. If that were the reason, I would be the first one in the offices staging a sit-in. They're not re-allocating money - there is no money. They've cut benefits for the school's employees, i.e. summer hours for the staff; they've slashed even the technology budget, traditionally one of the biggest. My mother comes home every day with heartbreaking stories about having to choose between giving financial aid to current students whose families' financial situations are newly precarious, or to new students who can increase the diversity of the school. 

So why was the middle-school dance program the first to go? To be brutally honest, because Debby is classified as a part-timer, and they've eliminated virtually all part-time positions across all departments as a cost-saving measure. Frankly, she's probably lucky that they didn't slash the after-school companies too. I don't know whether she's part-time by her own choice or by the school's decision, and we can get into what it says about the situation of arts at St. Andrew's that "dance teacher" is only a part-time job - but the fact is that that's the reason for the decision. And she's not the only one.

This is what I've been wrestling with for the past two days. How can I, in good conscience, support my alma mater's elimination of the programs that meant the most to me during my time there, particularly considering the myriad benefits that those programs offer to both the students and the school? On the other hand, how can I support their continuance when that money might be given as financial aid to a child who would otherwise be unable to afford to attend? I wish it were as simple as arts vs. athletics, but it's not. (An aside: Since I know people will bring up the fields in response to this, here are my feelings. I am just as angry about the spending on the new turf as everyone else, mostly because I don't remember the last time the arts department received an influx of over $100,000. BUT at the time the decision was made to put down the synthetic turf, two years ago, almost no one was predicting the crash of the economy, and Robert probably could not have foreseen the financial predicament the school would be in in the future. I seriously doubt that he would make the same decision now. What's more, my understanding is that this is a cost-saving measure in the long term, because they don't need to spend time or money on fertilizing, upkeep, etc. So, while we can all agree that it was unfair and may in retrospect have been a mistake, it's kind of a moot point now.)

We can frame this moment as a debate exclusively about the dance program and its merits, and the potential deleterious effects of its elimination (dance education offers x, y, and z to the school and the students; it's a slippery slope from its elimination to that of the entire arts curriculum; it's the same as not forcing students to take math, etc.) - to which Robert will reply that he eliminated the program not because of its own value or enthusiasm for it or lack thereof, but because it was taught by a part-timer and was therefore easily cut to provide money for equally worthwhile initiatives, i.e. financial aid. We can frame it as an opportunity to discuss the importance of arts education to the St. Andrew's mission and to question whether it is truly receiving equal recognition as one of the "four pillars." That's a discussion that needs to take place, and this might be the ideal catalyst for it. But that doesn't mean that dance classes will return, because that's an immediate budgetary issue. And if that degenerates into a demand for tit-for-tat deletions from the athletic budget, it's easy for Robert to say that those reductions will be made, or to reply, "Okay, new uniforms for the teams are out" - in which case, athletic supporters will be annoyed and the dance classes still won't be reinstated. Or, as you and Jessica have discussed, we can use this as an opportunity to exert some leverage as alumni and to explain, "We care about this institution and we feel that, faced with a number of difficult choices, you've made a decision that isn't acceptable to us since it isn't in the best interest of the school, the community, or the students." 

The way forward isn't attacking the administration; nor is it hammering home the same points about arts and dance, important though they may be. Rather, we need to see this as an opportunity for collaboration to try to find an alternative that would be acceptable to both parties. To do that, we need to have a clear idea of the options available. Would they be willing to dip into the endowment? (Probably not: (a) I'm sure it's taken a hit since it's all invested, and (b) Robert's view of an "emergency" isn't a global financial crisis, but the building burning down or something.) Are there individuals we could hit up for donations specifically for the dance program, or the arts classes more generally? (I think they've probably begged as much money as they can out of the wealthy alums, and I doubt those who care most about the arts are the ones making a lot, but I could be wrong.) Are there external grants available for dance education that the school could apply for? Is there any way to re-allocate the money in the budget, either from other arts programs or from other line items? The letter-writing campaign is great and will show that we care about the issue. But we should also be setting up meetings to discuss these issues with Robert, E-team, and the trustees. And to be prepared for those meetings, we need to have educated ourselves and have some practical alternatives beyond an idealistic vision. 

Just some thoughts from a different perspective. Sorry to be so long-winded but this is what's been going round and round in my head for the past two days. I know this is an emotional issue for all of us, but I think we'll be more productive if we try to remember that this was a difficult decision for them and not made on a whim, but that there may be alternatives they haven't considered and it's our responsibility to point those out.

A.

From Lindsay...

From Margaret Sclafani ('04)

Dear Mr. Kosasky:

It has come to my attention that St. Andrew’s has decided to cut all non-elective dance classes from its middle school arts programming. I urge you to reconsider this particular decision and all decisions that limit and undermine the creative arts at St. Andrew’s.

While I was not fortunate enough to attend middle school at St. Andrew’s, I did arrive in ninth grade and was reawakened to the world of dance and enabled in other artistic pursuits in theatre and visual arts. I was mainly attracted to St. Andrew’s in my application process because of the “four pillars” it promised and the combination of strong academics and arts programs which I had come to appreciate at Capitol Hill Day School. Many of the alumni from my elementary school attend other elite high schools in the metropolitan area, familiar names I am sure: GDS, Edmund Burke, Sidwell Friends, Bullis, and Maret. I did not apply to these schools for high school mainly because of their reputation as “jock schools”, and in that regard I mean schools that place athletic sports teams above the arts and above most budgetary allotment reductions. St. Andrew’s presented an alternative that was very attractive: arts and academics. It’s why I chose the school, and it’s why I enrolled and have continued to support my choice.

While St. Andrew’s was in no means perfect while I attended, I gained a great deal from the artistic outlets I was able to pursue whilst a student there: artistic achievements and involvements that still impress my young professional peers and employers in my current field as a film maker. Without the dance education I received at St. Andrew’s I would not have the confidence and poise that I have today. For a young woman seeking a place to belong and grow and learn, dance classes and the education my friends in high school had received in their middle school movement classes was a blessing. Ms. Kanter and Sarah Rosner taught me so much about my self. Without their dance foundations in the lower grades, I am sure my experience of community and connection I felt upon entering and remaining at St. Andrew’s throughout the four years of high school would have not been the same—a community that has continued to surround me in my years at Bryn Mawr College and beyond.

It is my hope that you will reconsider this choice to eliminate and undermine the performing arts and especially the dance program at St. Andrew’s. It has enriched my life beyond your walls and beyond what words herein can fully express.

Finally, I will share a very personal quote that was written to me by a dance teacher of mine shortly before she died:

“Dance is the only art wherein we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made.”

As a filmmaker please excuse this final reference: don’t repeat the mistakes of Mr. Holland’s Opus; don’t cut arts funding! Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Margaret Sclafani
Cum Laude Class of 2004

a letter by way of lindsay

***

Lindsay-
I, too, am the product of a creative movement program - at Greenwich Academy, in Connecticut, we all danced, we all sang, we all acted, and we all wrote poetry, because it was believed that art is simply part of any decent education - and a very important part. Whether we aspired to continue in dance, we received an integrated education that included physical learning - not just for the sake of doing something physical, but to be better scientists, humanitarians, and just plain better people. If we acknowledge Laban's belief that the world could be more harmonious if we, ourselves, conducted ourselves harmoniously in our environment, we must do more than include the study of movement as an "extra" in elementary and secondary education. It is basic to our understanding of ourselves as people who must learn to communicate with each other diplomatically and creatively - in ways that words sometimes cannot do.

Feel free to share my sentiments if you feel they're appropriate.

Laurie

Voice of a Non-Dancer: Letter from Adrienne Mennitt

This comes from Adrienne Mennit ('04) and it's a really wonderful point of view!

***

Dear Mr. Kossasky,
It has recently come to my attention that St. Andrew’s has decided to cut all non-elective dance classes from its middle school arts programming. I understand that in this poor economy, all schools, including SAES, are feeling the pressure to cut classes and programs, but I urge you to reconsider this particular decision.

While I have not explored much of modern dance outside my middle school class experiences with Debby Kanter, I am extremely grateful for that introduction. I was actually one of the many students that disliked having to take dance classes at the time (I had always preferred visual arts and dreaded getting sweaty in the middle of the day), but appreciate the fundamental skills they imparted on me: self-awareness, better communication, and a control of space, shape and movement.

Middle school students go through a time of immense change, both physically and mentally, and for me, the most valuable and humbling experience to cope with those changes was the mandatory dance class. It teaches students of both genders a greater understanding of one's own body, and fosters teamwork, independent thinking, and leadership skills. For those students that are shy, dance forces them to interact with others in a confident and outgoing manner that other art classes simply cannot teach. For boisterous/outgoing students, dance teaches them to listen to and depend on others in group settings. I’m pretty sure none of the boys in my grade would have voluntarily chosen to take dance, although in the end, they were often the ones that enjoyed it the most. If you leave dance as an after-school elective, you are doing a disfavor to all those individuals that would otherwise never be exposed to dance, or are too timid to try it on their own.

In the spirit of developing well-rounded students and perpetuating St. Andrew’s “four pillars of education,” I find it necessary to retain the middle school dance program. Dance classes are some of the strongest memories from my middle school experience at St. Andrew’s and I hope that future middle school students get the same exposure and appreciation of the art.

Letter from Lindsay Brown ('06)

Hi All,

Here's Lindsay's letter. Well said!

***

To Whom It May Concern:

I understand the St. Andrew’s Dance Program is being cut back. Allow me a moment of your time to respond:

I am J. Lindsay Brown (’06), currently attending Scripps College, CA with notable distinctions academically and beyond. I am a double major: Dance and English. I consistently make Dean’s List and choreograph for the Claremont College’s concerts. My choreography ranges from abstract movement interpretations of classic literature to pieces dealing with current events, such as Guantanamo. I have been accepted to the American Dance Festival Program at Duke this summer and will apply to graduate schools next year. I have attached my normal CV and my dance CV for your perusal, as well as a link to my college department:

http://www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/department/dance/index.php

St. Andrew’s gave me seven years of valuable academic education, and gladly took seven years of my parent’s money for the ever-rising tuition. My experience was remarkably varied at St. Andrew’s—while many of the teachers graciously encouraged me to grow, the administration and the student body often hindered such progress. Fortunately, I’ve moved past my teenaged perceived wrongs and found myself a future, keeping the best from my experience and jettisoning the rest.

In fact, I annually return to the very school that, on many days, ripped my self-esteem to shreds in order to assist teaching the most influential aspect of those SEVEN YEARS—Debby Kanter’s Dance Program. Other schools have big fields, sports, bands, music teachers, but very few teach what amounts to College Composition I to middle school students, male and female. In fact, I waived the first composition requirement in college, enabling me to choreograph earlier than other students— I had learned those skills in 6^th and 7^th grade.

Perhaps the phrase is finally out of fashion, but these actions go against “More than Academic Rigor.” Sure, St. Andrew’s has another field, and even younger students—younger students who may never experience dance (as we all were “forced” to in middle school) and the creativity and physical benefits that accompany it.

As Martha Graham said (one of the most important figures in Dance History, which is in fact a real subject studied by real scholars) “Movement never lies.” It never did lie to me, but without the day program I wouldn’t have found myself in the after school program, and I wouldn’t have found myself at Scripps College studying Laban, Kinesiology, Composition, Anatomy, Dance History…not to mention the technique classes. As I mentioned before, I will attend a graduate program for dance, specifically so that I can teach—I have been forever inspired by Debby Kanter’s work with me and so many others. I will teach dance for middle school, high school, and college students (assuming other institutions such as yours don’t continue to cut back, of course).

In conversing with fellow college dance students, I find that no one else encountered such a program in their schools and I shudder and tremble to think St. Andrew’s would devalue such a blessing.

Sincerely,

J. Lindsay Brown

My Letter to Kosasky...Draft One

Hi all,

Well, needless to say, I'm just as angered and disturbed and upset by this as everyone else in the SAES dance community.  

I told Sarah about an a paper I had been assigned earlier this year.  I was instructed to write a letter to the head of an organization in order to instate a change in policy.  So, I decided to write Mr. Kosasky about the arts program at St. Andrew's.  Though it doesn't focus on just dance, I thought it might be a good jumping off point.  I researched it pretty heavily (though I now have more to do because of the current situation), but I obviously welcome any other information anyone else might have.  

So, for your enjoyment, my incredibly long letter to Mr. Kosasky (works cited included!  Yay!).  PS, sorry if the layout gets all screwy!

Dear Mr. Kosasky,
I am writing to you not merely as an alumnus, but as someone with the utmost respect for and enthusiasm towards St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. First and foremost, I am forever thankful for the experience with which St. Andrew’s has provided me. I feel that I have been far more than adequately prepared for college and have been taught countless life’s lessons—both academic and otherwise. The academics at St. Andrew’s are truly outstanding, as are all the teachers. However, I have been and am still worried about the arts program.


St. Andrew’s is an institution dedicated to the apprehension of knowledge and the creation of well-rounded students, an ideal deeply seeded in the school’s mission statement. As you know, the school philosophy, as stated by the Board of Trustees, outlines the “Four Pillars”—the idea that St. Andrew’s “strives to challenge and support all of its students in a balanced program to nurture their academic, artistic, athletic, and spiritual growth” (Board of Trustees). The academics at St. Andrew’s are truly top-notch, something that is only augmented by all the incredible, enthusiastic, and supportive teachers. The numerous Mid-Atlantic Conference and Independent School League banners hanging in the gym indicate that our athletics have been excelling at record speed. Spiritually, St. Andrew’s does a fantastic job at creating a deep understanding of not only the Christian faith in its students, but an understanding of other faiths as well. Artistically, however, there seems to be an odd disconnect.

Though the arts program is neither lacking in enthusiasm nor talent, there is a difference in how seriously the arts are taken versus the ever-improving reputation of St. Andrew’s sports teams. With the recent addition of comfortable outdoor field seating and, of course, the new turf, there need to be improvements done to the arts department on the same level. And, for a school that claims to have a curriculum displaying something “more than academic rigor”, this should not be taken as an outlandish proposal.

These improvements can be easily achieved by a simple and quite small redistribution of donations to the school for the immediate and otherwise short-term benefits, as well as a fund to help create a stage. However, before going fully in-depth about this proposal, it is important to understand the complete importance of a holistic arts education.

The arts, as you are well aware, have been a pervasive issue amongst educators for quite some time. With funding for arts programs constantly in jeopardy of being cut in the public school system, there have been frequent cries of help to try to salvage the benefits of visual art, music, dance, and theatre education as evidenced by organizations such as VH1’s Save the Music Foundation and the Ad Council’s Americans for the Arts campaign. This still begs the question: why bother with the arts, and what exactly are the benefits?

In the mainstream, these benefits are most typically applied to either students under high school age or at-risk students; however, they absolutely apply to and can benefit every type of student. In fact, Americans for the Arts describes that, in a study conducted by Stamford University professor Shirley Brice Heath, students who are engaged in the arts are “4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement,” as well as twice as likely to read for leisure, three times more likely to be a class officer/leader, and are even “4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair” (qtd. in Americans for the Arts). Furthermore, it has been proven that, in a recent College Board study, “students of the arts continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT, according to reports by the College Entrance Examination Board” (qtd. in “Why Music Education?”).
With such a wide span of possibilities as a result of arts education, it may be difficult to digest these facts. Where do the arts collide with academics in order to create a more perfect curriculum? What exactly is the correlation between the disciplines? These are complicated questions that even the most experienced educators—such as you—need to carefully dissect, discuss, and consider.

To derive the most insight from these questions, each artistic discipline needs to be looked at separately. Take, for example, music education and its close relationship with mathematics. Thomas Fiore of the University of Chicago states that, “Music and Mathematics are intricately related” due to not only the obvious connections such as beats, measures, and holds, but down to the nature of instruments themselves and their correlation with sound wave and frequency equations (Fiore, 5). Additionally, the National Association for Music Education (MENC) reports that, according to an article by Christopher M. Johnson and Jenny E. Memmott of the University of Kansas, students who are in “top-quality music programs” score nearly “20% better in math than students in deficient music programs” (qtd. in “Why Music Education?”). The importance of music education, however, does not end with the benefits surrounding math and science.

MENC also reports that music education can both provide and finesse a student’s ability to study effectively—a time management skill that will last throughout academic, personal, and professional life. Additionally, music education can also “transfer to…communication skills, and cognitive skills useful in every part of the curriculum” and can help “students learn to work effectively in the school environment” (“Why Music Education?”). These skills can be acquired in both visual art and performing art education as well.

In addition to the arts’ ability to improve cognitive skills on a broader level, they can also progress students’ dexterity in specific subjects. In his book Art and Cognition, Arthur D. Efland of Columbia University explains that the visual arts, like science, math, and other academic subjects, “require active engagement rather than passive perception”. Efland also describes the importance of visual art education in relation to the theory of multiple intelligences. The theory states that there are a total of seven separate intelligences that “operate[s] with a symbol system that is uniquely its own, with many of these systems involving the [visual] arts”. The theory of multiple intelligences, then, suggests that a “wider representation of the various intelligences…would widen the range of cognitive abilities exercise,” which would then balance a curriculum (Efland, 170/157). Because the levels of performance required for art is equal to that of the sciences and humanities, instruction in the arts can only aid in a student’s cognitive expansion.

The performing arts add another integral aspect to any curriculum. On their website, the Arts Academy of Hollywood explains that the performing arts not only “inspire self-confidence [and] self discipline,” “…develop critical skills for life and work,” but also “promotes development of literacy, higher order thinking and problem solving”—all of which are skills needed to excel academically (“Arts Education Benefits”). Even St. Andrew’s own and longtime dance teacher Debby Kanter explains that the integration of dance in an academic setting “provides kids with an outlet for creative expression, which can help them express themselves in their everyday life,” making for mentally healthy students (Nesmith). Talent in the performing arts at St. Andrew’s is bountiful; however, this talent cannot be fully used to the student body’s benefit if the performing arts are not made more attractive through funding—something the school needs to do in order for the arts to be taken more seriously.
The evidence is clear: the arts play an integral role in education. They provide a chance for students to activate both the left and right sides of the brain, making the educational experience holistic and thus producing well-rounded individuals. While St. Andrew’s strives to create a community grounded in the Four Pillars, the arts program has constantly received the most criticism.

In an issue of The Mane News from 2005, then sophomore Emily Weiss, known for her voice and guitar playing, proclaimed that the administration had done “a horrible job” in supporting the arts. She continued to state, “For the most part there are scheduling conflicts with sports and the administration is not sensitive to the arts”. Furthermore, then junior Jeremy Rosenberg, pianist, stated that “for a private school, the administration could be doing a lot more than they are now” (“The Kids in the Hall”).

Though these students’ opinions are from nearly four years ago, the issue remains pertinent in the St. Andrew’s society and, quite frankly, should have never been an issue at a school that costs approximately $24,000 a year with a $6.55 million endowment and over $3 million in donation in 2007-2008 alone (Development Office 2007-2008, 21).
In the St. Andrew’s 2007-2008 Annual Report, a page stands out from the rest with a large, bolded “$3,000,000” atop body text. Underneath this huge sum of money—the total donations made last scholastic year—is a budgeted list pointing to where that money went. Amongst this list are some fine causes, such as “financial aid for faculty children”, “employee medical and dental insurance”, and “academic technology”. On the other hand, nowhere on this list—or any other list in the report—are the arts mentioned; however, there is a spot for the “Interscholastic sports program” (Development Office 2007-2008, 16).
It is well understood that sports are as crucial to an academic environment as the arts, for they provide not only physical wellbeing, but also team building and other communication skills. However, the Annual Report points to a large discrepancy in funds—and even recognition. None of the Annual Reports from 2005 to 2008 show any acknowledgment of the arts; they do not even get their own category. Rather, the arts are generally lumped in with “Student Activities” (Development Office 2005-2008).

Mr. Kosasky, all I am advocating is equality between the Pillars. This can only be achieved, in this case, by financial means.
The 2007-2008 Annual Report shows that, from the $3 million received in gifts, $135,000 was spent on the interscholastic sports program (Development Office 2007-2008, 16). In order to make small yet important improvements to the arts program as a whole, this money needs to be more properly distributed.

For example, to maintain certain things such as the guitars in the music rooms, a certain number of extra strings should be purchased at the beginning of each year, which, went bought in bulk, are not overwhelmingly expensive. In fact, the Guitar Center sells 25 full sets of acoustic strings for $84.99, which saves around $260 if the packs were to be bought separately (“Guitar Center”). 25 sets of strings would ensure that the music department’s six guitars would be in top condition throughout the scholastic year. Each guitar could snap all six strings about four times before the pack would run dry, and that is all for a fraction of the cost of one student’s books. Students who play instruments that are not taught in classes at St. Andrew’s are responsible for their own, making the amount of money redistributed to the arts bountiful. With more money, the dance and theatre companies would be able to have an increased ability to create or buy new costumes and purchase new props. The visual art studios could have a constant supply of nice brushes and paints. I am not asking you to cut sports funding in half—rather, I am asking you to be more mindful in the creation of budgets, especially when you are dealing with one of the Four Pillars.

Not only should a redistribution of gift money be implemented, but a fund should be started to create a stage. Out of several prestigious DC-area private high schools including Sidwell Friends, Georgetown Day School, and Maret, St. Andrew’s is the only one lacking a stage. Not only is this troubling in terms of competition, but also even in terms of health as, for instance, dancers need a more resilient surface on which to practice and perform. The sprung floors in the dance studio provide dancers with the needed resilience; however, the linoleum floor in MacDonald Hall—even when covered with marley—does not. Additionally, the absence of a stage makes the arts seem “not nearly as important as sports, who just got new turf,” as a current St. Andrew’s student (who wishes to remain unnamed) said in a recent interview (Nesmith).
In order for St. Andrew’s students to become involved in the arts and reap all the benefits an art education has to offer, the current program needs to be taken more seriously. The visual arts department is fortunate enough to have a fantastic space in the Kreeger Gallery (as well as every wall in the school)—their stage. However, the performing arts and music departments are left out, as the St. Andrew’s “stage” is a linoleum floor. To ameliorate this situation, a fund must be established in order to eventually build a stage for our school’s incredibly talented actors, singers, dancers, and instrumentalists.

A stage at St. Andrew’s would not only transform the arts program and make it appear as credible as it actually is today, but it would also make the school much more competitive in relation to other area private schools. The stage would make St. Andrew’s much more appealing to students already interested in the arts, as well as pique the interests of other students who have not yet been fully exposed to the arts. And, as the babies of the Baby Boomers are either already in college or applying to college—meaning, of course, a possible huge decline in the amount of younger students from a new generation—St. Andrew’s needs to become as competitive as possible to generate a constant flow of new students and ensure the future of the school for years to come.

Students are just as likely to find their calling in an arts class as they are in a science class or on the field. With adjustments to funding for the arts, St. Andrew’s can ensure that its students can exceed the standards of the Four Pillars. This will provide students with not only more diverse career choices, hobbies, and interests, but also a more satisfying and well rounded education—a foundation on which successful and fruitful lives can be built.





Works Cited
"Arts Education Benefits." Arts Academy of Hollywood. 25 Nov. 2008 .
"Arts Education Facts." Americans for the Arts. 3 Aug. 2007. The Ad Council. 8 Nov. 2008 .
Board of Trustees. "School Philosophy." St. Andrew's Episcopal School. Apr. 2008. St. Andrew's Episcopal School. 8 Nov. 2008 .
"Dance Education." National Dance Education Association. 21 Nov. 2008 .
Development Office 2005-2006. St. Andrew's Episcopal School Annual Report 2005-2006. St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
Development Office 2006-2007. St. Andrew's Episcopal School Annual Report 2006-2007. St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
Development Office 2007-2008. St. Andrew's Episcopal School Annual Report 2007-2008. St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
Efland, Arthur. Art and Cognition : Integrating the Visual Arts in the Curriculum. New York, NY: Teachers College P, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2002.
Egan, Kieran, and Dan Nadaner. Imagination and Education. New York, NY: Teachers College P, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1988.
Fiore, Thomas M. Music and Mathematics. University of Chicago.
"Guitar Center." Guitar Center. 25 Nov. 2008. .
"Kids in the Hall." The Mane News 7 Jan. 2005: 5.
Nesmith, Kaytee M. "St. Andrew's Students' and Teachers’ View of the Arts Program." Personal interview. 21 Nov. 2008.
"Why Music Education?" MENC. 2007. The National Association for Music Education. 20 Nov. 2008 .

It's Official: a Call to Action

So since facebook is already burning up about this, i thought we might as well start a blog so we can have all of the info in one place and move it towards some sort of collective action. Here's the email that i sent out and facebooked earlier this evening. Please get involved. Write your own version, reach out to former classmates, and be vocal about it online and in person. Let me know you want in, and i'll add you as an author so you can post your own.

***

Hi friends,
I got some really sad and disturbing news today, and I'd really appreciate it if you took a moment of your time to read this consider what i'm proposing.

I just got off of the phone with Debby Kanter, and it seems that St. Andrew's Episcopal School has decided to cut all arts dance classes from their middle school programing. There will still be the upper school after school dance company, as well as the eighth grade's dance as a P.E. class, but all daytime classes for middle school - the ones that weren't electives, meaning that everyone at some point had to take them - have been cut. I find this particularly devastating for a number of reasons, the first and foremost being that this sends a clear message that dance and the skills it hones such as inter-personal awareness and communication, non-verbal communication, and an understanding of one's own body, are not a valued part of our education or society. Moreover, this cut means that a large group of students, since they are not required to take this class for a short period as part of their education, will never expirament with dance on their own, and therefore grow up lacking both the experience of having to think and relate in this different way, and the understanding of the form as an art. Although i feel that it goes without saying, for me this is akin to using the problem of students not initally liking math as an excuse to cut the program. As a artist and "outside the box" thinker I hated math classes. However, i look back on them now with the understanding that they helped teach me to think in a different way, and utilize a certian set of skills. Dance is no different, though our society may say so. This is why i am extremly saddened and disturbed to hear about this specific cut. Furthermore, reducing the dance department to its P.E. components and cutting it out of the SAES arts cirriculum sets up a potential envrionment for it to be further marginalized and eventually cut out of SAES alltogether.

I understand that the econmy is bad and that SAES may be feeling the pressure to cut classes and programs, and I understand that those are all hard choices, where someone will be unhappy. However, particularly with St. Andrew's so concerned with the well rounded "four pillars of education" that we were constantly reminded of, I am at a loss to understand this decision. Particularly with a school that now boasts four music teachers, and "51 interscholastic teams, including 19 Middle School teams and 32 JV and varsity teams, in 13 different sports", i DO NOT understand why they feel the need to make extensive cuts in a program that has the ability to give so many students a small taste of a way of thinking and being alternative to the ones they learn in other classes.

I know that you are all very busy people. I am busy and had other things to do tonight, but I wouldn't be sending this to you if i didn't honestly think it was an extremly important battle to be fighting.

Some of you are dancers, some of you were in high school, and some of you hated that class with all of your heart - i know we come from different places on this one. Some of you are parents and grandparents of students.
I urge you to think about your dance experience at SAES, and if you come to the conclusion that it had any impact whatsoever on you, your child's, and/or your friend's development as a well rounded individual and functioning human being, i urge you to write Mr. Kossasky, and tell him that SAES can not afford to cut their dance program. I'll even go as far as to remind you that i had never danced before coming to St. Andrew's, and, had i not taken one of those middle school classes, would never have found dance and would not be leading the life that I am so blessed to lead right now. Many of you have told me that something in one of my dances has touched you or made you see something in a different light. If you were being honest about that, i hope that you can see how none of that ever would have existed without the spark of these classes, and agree that this is a valid and nessecscary form of education, vital to any school that claims to uphold and honor a sense of intelectual rigor and diversity.

Please take a moment to write, and meanwhile I'll be organizing to see how we can take this to someone higher that Mr. Kossasky.
If you have ideas or board connections, addresses or emails of where to send letters would be much appreciated. Please forward this to as many people as possible.
You can send your letter to:

St. Andrew's Episcopal School
Attn: Robert Kossasky
8804 Postoak Road
Potomac, Maryland 20854

Thank you for your help, sending much love
S