Earn PLU's with smART stART !

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is proud to announce we are now a vendor for Professional Learning Units! Many smART stART programs have begun , but the opportunity is still available for those participating teachers who would like to acquire 1 PLU (10 hours) toward their certification. The Georgia Department of Education is on a 5 year “pause” which does not require PLU’s for recertification. Once the five years are complete, Professional Learning Units will, once again, be needed to maintain certification. This is a great opportunity to earn credit for a PLU that may be needed in the future. Lastly, Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center will keep records of completion if documentation is needed in the future.

smART stART Featured in Atlanta Parent Magazine!

“Paintbrushes for Pencils” features Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center and our smART stART and Arts for Learning Lessons programs!

Susan McQuade participated in an interview with the writer (Melanie Wagner) and she is quoted throughout the article. Melanie also interviewed YAWAC artist Karin Mervis while she was doing smART stART at McEver Arts Academy last year. All of the pictures on pages 64 and 65 (starting on page 75 online) are from Young Audiences and feature our 2010 smART stART program.

This is fantastic coverage of YAWAC and our literacy suite programs.
Atlanta Parent Magazine can be found all over town – including here at Woodruff. Make sure you get yourself a copy to share with your friends and coworkers.

To see the complete January 2011 Edition be sure to click HERE

Let the Road Trip Begin...

Let the good times roll! This January, 13 of Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center teaching artists will be taking arts and education on the road to 18 Georgia elementary schools. During the next 3 months 94 kindergarten classrooms will be retelling stories through various art forms! Over 2,040 kindergarten students will learning about narrative elements as wells as fundamentals of art. As we get closer to going live, please be sure to check in and keep up on the amazing progress made by some of the schools.

Ready... Set... smART stART!

On November 15th, 2010 there was a whole lot of sharing and learning taking place in the Circle Room at the Woodruff Center. All of the 18 participating smART stART Site Coordinators came from all over the state of Georgia to meet with their Teaching Artist to officially begin the smART stART program. Among the topics discussed were assessment, unit plans for their residency, and arts integrated strategies for teaching literacy to young students. Site Coordinators were introduced to arts based approaches in all of the major artistic disciplines – Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts and Music. All sessions were facilitated by YA staff and YA Teaching Artists making for a hands on fun filled day. The enthusiasm shared by all of the participants helped brighten up the rainy day making the second fall smART stART workshop a success! Thanks to all of those who participated.

smART stART Teaching Artist Workshop was a Success!

Young Audiences has successfully completed our Teaching Artists Workshop this past October 20th, 2010! Engaging ideas were tossed around the conference room which included reading standards, essential questions, and inspirational lesson plans. Some teaching artists ranging from dance, music, and visual arts, demonstrated their strategies for engaging students’ participation through literary comprehension and the fine arts. Not only was the workshop fun, but it also created a positive environment for learning through the smART stART program. We are hard at work to make our next smART stART fall workshop, November 15th, 2010, as educational and dynamic as the first!

Fall Workshop Means smART stART is Going Live!

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is proud to announce that our fall planning smART stART workshops will be taking October 20^th and November 15^th, 2010! We are excited to promote early literacy skills – specifically the students ability to retell a story – through the arts. During the smART stART workshops Teaching Artists and participating classroom teachers will collaborate to explore arts based strategies to help kindergarten students grasp foundational literacy skills. This collaboration is integral to ensuring student achievement and makes for a great way to spend the day! Be sure to check back for pictures and coverage of the workshops. We are on the saddle again and enthusiastic to start this 2010-2011 school year off with a bang!

smART stART is back, alright!

Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center is pleased to announce the return of our arts integrated literacy program - smART stART! We are gearing up for a very exciting school year… through the generous donations of our funders, Target and Junior League of Atlanta, we are able to bring smART stART 2010-2011 to 18 schools, 91 participating classrooms and over 1,800 students! This more than triples our impact in comparison to last year’s program!

The ball has started to get rolling in making it all happen… We are in frequent communication with the schools and teaching artists, and are looking forward to finalizing planning dates and pairing artists with schools shortly. We are excited to announce that the following schools are on our roster for this year:

Anne Street Elementary – Griffin Spalding County Schools

Brockett Elementary - DeKalb County Schools

Cook Elementary – Atlanta Public Schools

Dunleith Elementary – Marietta City Schools

George E. Washington Elementary – Meriwether County Schools

Harper Elementary – Clayton County Schools

Heritage Academy – Atlanta Public Schools

Hickory Hills Elementary – Marietta City Schools

James A. Jackson Elementary – Clayton County Schools

Mattie Wells Elementary – Jones County Schools

McEver Elementary – Hall County Schools

Metter Elementary – Candler County Schools

Norton Elementary – Gwinnett County Schools

Palmer-Stone Elementary – Newton County Schools

Sumter Primary – Sumter County Schools

Sycamore Elementary – Gwinnett County Schools

West Newton Elementary – Newton County Schools

Wesley Lakes Elementary – Henry County Schools

As you can see, smART stART is now being delivered in 12 different Georgia school districts. We are pleased to welcome so many new schools and districts into partnership with us to impact the lives and learning of Georgia’s children through the arts!

Stay tuned for more updates as they become available!