Focus on TUSD - June 2007

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Educational Materials Center Offers World of Resources
The Educational Materials Center (EMC) has been bringing a world of resources into TUSD classrooms for 40 years.

During the summer break, workers continue to keep the center's professional materials up-to-date and in tip-top condition in the spacious storage space.

Jeanne de la Garza oversees this hub as the cataloger in charge of print material, multi-cultural artifacts and visual resources, and videos and films. Though users can view the inventory on the Web, many want to see the selections up close. That's where de la Garza comes in, recommending materials and conducting tours of the area. Emily Jacobson, library materials specialist, is her assistant.

The new Art-A-Fact section was unveiled in January, an area behind the front desk that features a different display every four months. Mural art will stay up until August, when a weaving display will take its place. Visitors can sit at a table in the area, view the displays and plan lessons. The area formerly was an office for the library services administrator, who retired last year, and was not replaced.

EMC is part of the Fine Arts Department. It has extensive circulating artifacts and hands-on instructional materials based on world cultures and historical periods. TUSD has the only Fine Arts Department in the nation that is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, according to Joan Ashcraft, the director of the Fine Arts Department and OMA.

These are the areas de la Garza and Jacobson oversee:

• Books focus on teacher support, on topics such as teaching ideas and current educational issues. The books are shelved according to the Dewey decimal non-fiction system. Four computers on site offer quick access to cataloged material. Every fall, the print copy of the catalog of videos, fine arts prints, library panels, and textiles is updated.



• Foreign language books for children and adults are mostly dictionaries. One unique offering is the collection of 19 Dr. Seuss books in Chinese. EMC also has a small collection of books that can be used by students, housed in the Chicano literature and Spanish sections.
• The Gold Files hold ready-made packets of recent articles on educational issues and curriculum topics. Some of the nine four-drawer cabinets hold copies of laminated primary documents, such as the U.S. Constitution and papers related to the Oregon Trail that have copies of letters pioneers wrote during that time. These files are called the Gold File because they hold a "gold mine" of information.
• Culture kits contain artifacts, lesson plans and books, many focusing on countries the refugee populations in TUSD represent, such as Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Central America.
• Library panels are thematic panel sets the Fine Arts Department assembles featuring photographs, artifacts and activity packets. Most are on social studies themes with some science topics. Examples of panel titles are "Harlem Renaissance," "Ancient Egypt," and "Arizona History."
• Exhibits are available that use science materials, dioramas and reproductions of classic sculptures. The center has two full-sized torsos, whose inside body parts can be removed. Two full-sized and six small skeletons can also be checked out. "We have replicas of various and sundry body parts, such as eyes, ears and teeth," de la Garza added.
• Textiles representing many techniques and cultures are stored in shallow drawers, offering a tactile experience for students.
• Fine art prints that have been laminated and mounted on different colored burlap are organized by artist. De la Garza said some teachers can use the prints to "brighten up their room," but many check them out to supplement the theme they're teaching. Opening Minds through the Arts (OMA) visual arts teachers often use the prints for lessons.
• The most dramatic resource EMC offers are the costumed figures fashioned from tri-wall that stand waiting for classroom trips. The life-sized adults and children model traditional clothing from around the world, such as Scotland, Thailand and the Middle East. The head of one female figure is shrouded in a burka. The only figure with a painted face is a purple-robed dancer from India.
• Videos and films bring the world to children in over 4,000 titles, all based on the curriculum. Many of the titles on reel-to-reel tapes are classics that aren't available on VHS or DVD. The Disney videos are in Spanish for students who are learning that language. The VHS tapes are the most convenient versions for teachers because most TUSD schools still have VCR's, de la Garza said. But "we're seeing more DVD's now," she added.

TUSD has two mobile cultural museums called the "ArtsMobiles." Currently, one exhibit contains Japanese artifacts and the other one has artifacts from two southern Arizona Native American groups, the Tohono O'odam Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. The ArtsMobiles are enhanced by instructional lessons provided by Fine Arts specialists, who demonstrate lessons in classrooms before students walk through the museum. To schedule a weeklong visit of these museums, contact Carole Marlowe in the Fine Arts Department.
EMC sends the fine arts prints, culture kits, textiles, books, videos and some small exhibits by District mail. The library panels, large exhibits and costumed figures must be picked up. Videos are lent for six working days and are the only items that can be booked in advance. The other items have a 30-day check-out time.

Behind the shelves and storage areas, Ruth Winslow creates display boards, exhibits, and the Fine Arts prints. She's been the curator of exhibits and artifacts since 1999, fashioning displays on topics such as agriculture of the Anasazi and the Amazon rainforest.

Betty Reichlein, the artifact technician, assembles materials, such as Japanese calligraphy sets for teachers' gifts. She described the artifact storage area, which Winslow oversees--shelves holding boxes of materials that are labeled at the ends of the stack with the countries that are represented. Reichlein's main responsibilities are designing and assembling the costumed figures for the ArtsMobile and classroom use.

Reichlein says that the curator and technicians recommend storing the artifacts in a sealed, darkened room, but because of space limitations, the storage area is also used for a work area and cannot be sealed and darkened.

Shelly and Shirley Silverman, Active Volunteers for the Arts, have been photographing the artifacts for six weeks and entering them into the computer. As volunteers, they process about 50 artifacts a week. "This will take us through our third lifetime," Shirley Silverman said. She estimated that the EMC has half a million objects that need to be catalogued.

The OMA program recruited the couple.

The EMC artifacts were mostly purchased decades ago and since then, donations have added to the supplies.

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

More info on EMC

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

All photos in the June issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations.

The deadline to submit material for the July Focus is Friday, July 6. The Focus will be published Monday, July 16. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the Focus Online Submission Form.