The Challenge: How to connect with parents and other allies and build support for K-12 arts education in local schools.
The Strategy: Donna Chinn created a Facebook page that pooled information about arts education events in Los Alamitos from various sites and schools, providing parents with one place to find out about all arts events in the district.
The Story: “I didn’t really know how Facebook worked,” says Donna Chinn, local organizer for the Los Alamitos Alliance for Arts Education, ”When I started I was trying to find or invent a way to connect with parents and other people who might be interested in local arts. Eventually, I discovered that I could set up a page for the arts alliance as an organization. Luckily, my daughter was able to help me with my many newbie questions.”
While she didn’t have experience with social media, Donna started with clear objectives and a sound strategy:
1. Provide something of value...
CAAE blog archive is located here.
2013
Creative Ways to Connect with Your School Board is a webinar offering concrete ways to build relationships with school board members and promote arts education in your local school district. Created by the California Alliance for Arts Education and the California State PTA, it features strategies for elevator speeches, school board presentations and an array of other ways to connect with school board members. View an archive of this one-hour event here (please note presentation begins at :30).
With the budget process underway, there are critical decisions ahead about if and how arts education will be funded. The Governor’s budget proposal, released last week, gives local districts greater flexibility and autonomy in how they use state funds, putting more decisions in the hands of local school boards, with fewer state restrictions and requirements. The Governor’s budget also eliminates some categorical funding, which could shift money away from what was previously...
2012
As a result of a new partnership with the California Arts Council, this fall local arts councils in Amador, Fresno, Mendocino, Placer and Santa Cruz joined the Alliance’s Local Advocacy Network.
The program empowers local communities to keep arts programs in schools by providing the strategic assistance, leadership development and communication tools. Since its launch four years ago, the network has helped local advocates build strong relationships with their local school boards, participate in the creation of a district arts plan and earn media coverage and broad support for arts education.
...
By Jon Perera, Vice President, Adobe Education
From Costco to the Curriculum Advisory Committee – Elevator Speeches that Work
By Cathy Dagostino-Hamilton, Local Organizer for the Escondido Alliance for Arts Education
The Challenge: How do you build relationships with school board members in your community?
Strategy: A little bit of nerve and a well-prepared elevator speech
Story: When I started working with the Alliance’s Local Advocacy Network I was a concerned, resourceful mom with a strong belief in the value of the arts. I had seen first hand how they had helped my daughter connect and learn at school and read research that backed up my experience. But I didn’t have relationships with local school board members who made the funding decisions about arts programs – how could I get my message across?
You may find they or one of them may live in your own neighborhood. That happens to be the case for me and once I...
The Challenge: Finding a concrete way to get business leaders involved in arts education advocacy.
The Story: When Elva Rodriguez launched an arts education advocacy group in Central Unified Fresno, she already had good, solid relationships with local businesses. She had been involved with the Rotary club as well as the school district. But, she wondered how she could create a tangible way for businesses to support arts education in the community.
Her team came up with a concrete idea. They asked the Rotary Club to sponsor and name a wall in one of the galleries at Arte Américas, a community cultural center. The wall will be devoted to displaying student artwork.
“The students invite family and friends to come to a free art opening at Arte Américas and see their work, says Elva Rodriguez, “All the student artwork is professionally framed – that is part of the experience.”...
The Orange County Arts Education Collaborative Fund—a collaboration between the Orange County Community Foundation and Arts Orange County—recently presented grants totaling $66,000 to 8 Orange County (OC) School Districts. Grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 were made possible by funding from The Boeing Company and the Orange County Community Foundation. The primary purpose of the Orange County Arts Education Collaborative Fund is to support OC school districts that have adopted a formal arts education plan for implementation, are a member of Orange County Department of Education’s Arts Advantage program and have the support of their community through an active Local Arts Network (LAN) education alliance. Learn more.
The Challenge: How do you garner support for a far-reaching arts plan in tough financial times?
Sandee Van Oyen, the Local Organizer for the Placentia Yorba Linda Alliance for Arts Education, who spearheaded the effort says she was lucky to find strong commitment to the arts in the school board, district staff and County Department of Education -- and patience. When the Local Advocacy Network was getting off the ground, Karin Demarest brought a passion for the arts, combined with a commitment to public education and forged a successful alliance within her community in Sonoma County.
Over the past three years she has expanded her understanding of what it means to support local advocacy as the Program Coordinator for the LAN network. She's been in the trenches and a relentless leader for our local organizers. Her wisdom and dedication has left its mark on our advocacy work.
We wish her all the best as she departs to become a program officer for the Community Education Foundation in Sonoma County.
Thank you, Karin!
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