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Contact: Estella Zavala or Susan Cergol, 225-6437
Posted on: April 8, 2002

To help children overcome the emotional and economic influences that too often lead to low expectations and academic failure, TUSD is offering a supplemental curriculum in the form of after school, Saturday and summer programming through an innovative arts-based initiative called Project Shine!

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education through its 21^st Century Community Learning Program, Project Shine! fosters personal and academic excellence through arts-infused programming that provides a positive alternative to the negative influences of drugs, violence and poverty. Based on the principle that participation in the arts often gives children their first opportunity to be successful and feel good about themselves, the goal of the project is to help at-risk students succeed by developing skills and interest in lifelong learning.

"Many children have economic and emotional issues, through no fault of their own, that block their education," explains Jane Klipp, Project Shine! coordinator. "We have to reach out to these kids through a variety of different means, starting in elementary school. If we can make a significant difference in their lives early on, we can help them develop an enthusiasm for learning that will carry them throughout their lives."

Through a collaboration involving TUSD and numerous community arts partners, including the Arizona Opera Company, Arizona State Museum and Tucson Museum of Art (see full list of collaborators on page 3), Project Shine! offers a variety of visual and auditory learning experiences that encourage multiple intelligence learning and supplement curricular lessons taught during the regular school day. Arts-based lessons such as drama, music, pottery, drawing, sculpture, music movement and dance blend with reading, literacy, math, technology, community service, cultural activities and health and nutrition in an instructional model based on mentorships and meaningful experiences among diverse groups of learners.

Klipp notes that children achieve greater overall academic success when they are allowed to develop an interest and proficiency in the arts and apply multiple intelligences to the learning process. "Some children are auditory learners, while others are more visual," she says. "Children have incredible natural abilities; we just need to tap into them."

Currently, four elementary schools — Wright (4311 E. Linden), Corbett (5949 E. 29^th St.), Howell (401 N. Irving), and Davidson (3915 E. Ft. Lowell Rd.) — offer after school and Saturday programs through Project Shine!, while Booth-Fickett Middle Magnet School (450 S. Montego) and Catalina High Magnet School (3645 E. Pima) will serve as sites for the summer programs, known as the Fine Arts Youth Academy. Offered through Project Shine! cooperating agency Arts Express, the Fine Arts Youth Academy consists of summer sessions in drama, music and dance for children in grades 4 through 12.

Project Shine! Consortium Members or Partners:

American Heart Association
Arizona State Museum
Arts Express
Arizona Opera Company
Beavers Band Box
Eco Lab
Eugene Jones
Nancy Landes
KIDCO
Midtown Neighborhood Association
Smithsonian Institution
The Kennedy Center
Tucson Metropolitan Ministries
Tucson Museum of Art
Tucson Parks and Recreation
Tucson Police G.R.E.A.T. Program
Tucson Public Libraries
Tucson Symphony Orchestra
Tucson Symphony Women’s Association
Tucson Unified School District
UA C.A.T.S. Community Service Program
UA C.A.T.S. Reading Program
UA College of Fine Arts
UA Department of Athletics
UA Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Uapresents
UA School of Music and Dance
Washburn Pianos