The PA Distance Fine Arts department, consisting of our Art and Music teachers, put together exciting activities to celebrate March’s Youth Arts Month. From virtual art museum tours to a staff-wide event showcasing in-class work to gathering student submissions for virtual showcases and concerts, the Fine Arts Department is highlighting the importance of an arts education with help from the new STEAM Hub.
Art teachers Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Vatter, Mrs. Jordan, and Mr. Rumble, and music teachers Ms. DeMark, Ms. Sapp, Mrs. Bowman, Mrs. Carpenter, and Mr. Hart work together to provide a safe space for students to express themselves and explore their creativity. From learning how to play the xylophone and using boom whackers to 2D and 3D art techniques, the Fine Arts Department has something for every student to express themselves while exercising the right half of their brain.
“It’s important to highlight why the arts are important for so many reasons,” art teacher Mrs. Jordan explained. “Not only is art and music fabulous ways for kids to explore self-expression but it is such an amazing avenue to connect other disciplines and reinforce other topics at the same time.”
“Music is always evolving, changing, and growing,” music teacher Ms. Sapp added. “It’s a subject that gives us a personal look into our students’ lives.”
This March, the Fine Arts Department has also been busy utilizing the music and art rooms within the new STEAM Hub to help bring their concepts to life for their students. The new interactive space has meshed nicely with their Youth Arts Month-themed lessons and activities.
The STEAM Hub contains three themed music rooms equipped with soundproofing panels in the walls. Each room contains anything our music teachers need for their live classes, including a variety of musical instruments, professional-grade microphones and headsets, a 360-degree conference camera, document cameras, whiteboards, and plenty of rolling tables and chair options.
“The variety of music rooms will let me differentiate which areas I want to teach different music themes,” Ms. DeMark said. “I plan to make each corner into a themed space for the kids so I can move around to each as they watch me on camera.”
The Fine Arts Department isn’t blind to the skepticism that often attaches itself to cyber schools. More often than not, they get questions from friends, family, and strangers about what it’s like to teach art and music at a cyber school.
“We have big spaces for all our instruments, a large whiteboard, several monitors, high-quality microphones, and cameras,” music teacher Mrs. Bowman explained. “We are able to do everything we would do in a music class at a brick-and-mortar school.”
“We even have space to work together to provide students with more resources from us as musicians.” Mrs. Carpenter said. “Just the other day, Mrs. Bowman and I made a video together that we used within a lesson.”
“It is so exciting to have such a robust Fine Arts Department,” art teacher Mr. Vatter said. “Not every school is this supportive of the arts and supports an art and music education K-12.”
The STEAM Hub also has a wonderful A/V Production room featuring a large computer, audio mixer, video switcher, wall-mounted TV for all of our music teachers (and any other teacher) to use for custom vocal or musical recordings.
“I love using the A/V production room to record compositions of myself singing and playing instruments,” Mrs. Carpenter explained. “The equipment helps me make crisp and clear recordings that my students can listen to and analyze.”
The space also contains one large and one small Art Studio for our K-12 art teachers to bring their in-class instruction to the next level. The large window-ridden studio space has a sink, lots of counters and storage space, drawing tables, document cameras, 360-degree conference cameras, and other helpful technology.
“The new spaces make teaching art more accessible,” Mrs. Jordan said. “Having a specific space dedicated to virtual art-making elevates our lessons and the student’s live learning experiences.”
The STEAM Hub serves as an internal staff collaboration space but also a space to connect with our students, and the community at large, in person.
“We look forward to hosting artist residencies with community artists,” Mr. Rumble said. “We are also excited to host students in the space for a variety of events and create virtual art gallery tours using showcase student artwork.”
“I would love to take some of our recording equipment on the road, using the Community Connector vans,” Mr. Hart noted. “There are opportunities to connect students and their project-based work as we come to them in person.”
Last week, the Fine Arts Department hosted an interactive event where staff could view student work and see first-hand how their department is incorporating the STEAM Hub resources into their live art and music classes.
“PA Distance is focused on building community connections and, with some help from music and art, our team can do that,” Mr. Vatter added.
“It’s awesome to have so many different courses available to my students that are each their own individual program,” high school art teacher, Mr. Rumble explained. “Not many schools have exclusive art elective courses, as we have here because it’s usually condensed all into one class.”
“I think that my students find art class to be important because it is a place where they can explore open-ended solutions through project-based learning. Beside art projects, students really love analyzing and interpreting art,” art teacher Mrs. Lawrence explained.
“Music is a way for our kids to belong in the world,” music teacher Ms. DeMark said. “We want to make sure our students are provided with a well-rounded music education and the tools they need for that.”
The Fine Arts Department also focuses heavily on cross-curricular teaching efforts, especially with the new STEAM Hub at their disposal, alongside their colleagues.
“I love to bring history and reading concepts into my kindergarten classes,” Mr. Vatter explained. “At such a young age level, it’s so important to connect art back to what they’re learning in other subjects.”
Specifically, music teachers see an opportunity to incorporate math and science when it comes to the physics behind sound.
“I like talking about the physics of sound,” Mr. Hart said. “There are plenty of opportunities to coordinate with our science department to help our students visualize sound waves.”
“We have a space and endless opportunities to collaborate not only with each other but with other subject teachers too,” Ms. Sapp explained. “We are excited to see what the future holds.”
The Fine Arts Department is busy preparing students for their upcoming Spring Music Concert (May 23rd, 24th, and 26th depending on the grade levels) and Art Showcase (June 2nd). During these events, students will get the opportunity to show off their creative talents to the school community.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Fine Art Department, their students, and how the new STEAM Lab is used by teachers and staff, by staying up-to-date here on our school blog and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.