P3- Poets & Poetry Program

ARTISTS IN SCHOOLS 2022 Grant

The funds will be managed through the Lake County Arts Council by the Lake County Arts Council Executive Director, Barbara Clark. Funds must be spent on the teaching artist’s salary and art supplies.

Description of Purpose: 

The Artist in Schools Grant is a collaboration between the Lake County Arts Council, LCOE, the Youth Poet Laureate program, Upper Lake High School, Konocti Education Center, and Kelseyville High School.

The poetry workshops will be a minimum of 10, 1-hour workshops over a 2-year period with Teaching Artists. Current identified Teaching Artists include Lake County Poet Laureate, Georgina Marie, and retired teacher Jennifer Mills Kerr. Teaching Artists will hold poetry writing, and performance workshops to support students’ interest, and skill development in reading, performing and writing poetry. Within these sessions, we will also offer support for the new Lake County Youth Poet Laureate application process. The workshops will be held in the school libraries, as curricular and student support and enrichment. 

Without outreach, the new Youth Poet Laureate program will struggle to find student applicants. These workshops will support students who are interested in poetry and who have no avenue into, or exposure to this art form. By offering exposure to professional and celebrated local writers we will have the opportunity to engage students with the creative writing process in a dynamic way, as well as expose them to reading and performing poetry. Through this opportunity, we will also promote the county and statewide Poetry Out Loud contest, which Geogina Marie and the Lake County Arts Council also run. 

Dana Adams, LCOE Learning Support Specialist, will support Georgina in collaborating with the schools and support the ELA teachers in integrating these workshops into their curriculum. As stated on page 77 of the California Common Core State Standards English Language Arts & Literacy: poetry is one of the text types required for students to apply the reading standards. 

LANGUAGE FROM GRANT

The Artists in Schools (AIS) program supports projects that integrate community arts partners into culturally and linguistically responsive, sequential, standards-based arts learning for students in preschool through Grade 12 as part of the regular school day, and that address the unique circumstances of the school environment. The intent of the program is to augment and enhance the work of classroom teachers and school-based arts programs by bringing arts resources within the local community into the school culture, not to supplant credentialed arts teachers. AIS projects focus on hands-on participant learning that takes place over a sustained period (typically a minimum of 10 class sessions) with an identified group(s) of students. Program Goals Projects should address the following Artists in Schools program goals:

• Increase student access to and participation in school-based arts education as part of coordinated efforts with school site leaders, district staff, and county Offices of Education.
• Develop the artistic abilities of students through sequential, hands-on arts learning.
• Promote life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and positive self-expression through the arts.
• Promote students’ positive social and emotional development through reflection and creative practice. 2022 CAC Artists In Schools Guidelines
• Promote culturally and linguistically responsive learning through the arts, using cultural knowledge to support the cultural assets of the local community and students’ positive self-identification and respect for diverse cultures.
• Develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships between arts and educational organizations, teaching artists, and the youth and families in the communities they serve.

Program Timeline 

January – July 2023 Preparation; Teaching Artists Selected, Curriculum Developed, TA & Schools Matched,
Schedules Developed. Supplies Purchased.
September – Dec 2023 Workshops
January – June 2024 Workshops & Performance
July – December 2024 Post discussions with participating TAs, teachers, librarians, etc. Collect Data for
Reporting, Closing all financial Accounts, and preparing reports for CAC.