Arts scholars building bridge to kids' success
Crystal Potts
Central Florida Future, Issue date: 10/15/2007
Central Florida Future, Issue date: 10/15/2007
Making a difference in a child's life is a priceless experience.
Alicia Fuss, a 25-year-old graduate student at UCF, learned this firsthand as an ArtsBridge scholar.
"There was, I think, evident pride in her work, which meant the world to me," Fuss said of one of the students she helped through the program.
ArtsBridge America is a national organization created to respond to the decrease of arts programs in public education.
The organization partners with underserved kindergarten through 12th-grade schools with university arts scholars who then incorporate arts-based instruction into core subjects such as math, social studies, English and sciences.
Scholars make it their goal to help students in low-performing schools meet or exceed state and national standards and become more confident in themselves.
ArtsBridge, which started in 1996, currently has programs at over 20 universities in 13 states and Northern Ireland.
ArtsBridge UCF was inaugurated in the spring of 2006. This local program works with Orange County kindergarten through 12th-grade schools.
Fuss collaborated with Melanie Hunter, a teacher at Memorial Middle School, during the spring 2007 semester. Hunter taught the gifted program, which consisted of six students ranging from sixth through eighth grade.
Fuss used theater techniques to help the students understand the Sunshine State books that they were reading as preparation for their reading competition.
"I have a great passion for arts education in general," Fuss said, "and it was a really beautiful opportunity to be able to work first hand with students."
Fuss earned her bachelor of arts degree in theater from Florida State University. She is currently a second-year Master of Fine Arts candidate, studying Theatre for Young Audiences at UCF.
"[ArtsBridge is] a really nice bridge between students majoring in the arts and K-12 teachers," said Megan Alrutz, the founder and director of ArtsBridge UCF.
Alrutz is also an associate theater professor at UCF and the coordinator of MFA for the Theatre for Young Audiences program. She was an ArtsBridge scholar as a graduate student at Arizona State University.
"The biggest thing is I'd like people to know that ArtsBridge offers an opportunity for artists to practice their work in an environment with young people," Alrutz said. "As the opportunity for arts experience decreases in schools and in the community, our responsibility as artists grows larger."
ArtsBridge UCF is now accepting applications for spring 2008.
The application requires students to propose a project that they would like to pursue for the upcoming spring semester.
Potential scholars must be graduate or undergraduate students with arts discipline or an arts education major or minor. Prior experience is not required, however an interest in the classroom environment is necessary.
The program requires 45 hours each semester and may count as either a zero or one-credit class.
"It's not a massive program, but it's an exciting one," said Shelli Kinsley, co-coordinator of ArtsBridge UCF. "And it has opened doors for people, and I think the bottom line is that no one has walked away from this project going, 'I'll never do that again.'
"They walk away saying, 'I wish I could do it again. Can I do it again? How can I get this experience again?'"
Kinsley is a graduate student at UCF and is pursuing her MFA in the Teaching Young Audiences program. She earned her bachelor of arts in theater from UCF.
This is Kinsley's third semester with ArtsBridge UCF.
"Give it a try; apply," Kinsley said. "And know that UCF is doing something to put art in schools. I think that's a better big deal too, as a whole. It's UCF giving back to the community, and I think we ask 'What can UCF do for me?' a lot, and this is what UCF is doing for other people, which is cool."
For more information on ArtsBridge UCF, visit http://artsbridge.ucf.edu.
Alicia Fuss, a 25-year-old graduate student at UCF, learned this firsthand as an ArtsBridge scholar.
"There was, I think, evident pride in her work, which meant the world to me," Fuss said of one of the students she helped through the program.
ArtsBridge America is a national organization created to respond to the decrease of arts programs in public education.
The organization partners with underserved kindergarten through 12th-grade schools with university arts scholars who then incorporate arts-based instruction into core subjects such as math, social studies, English and sciences.
Scholars make it their goal to help students in low-performing schools meet or exceed state and national standards and become more confident in themselves.
ArtsBridge, which started in 1996, currently has programs at over 20 universities in 13 states and Northern Ireland.
ArtsBridge UCF was inaugurated in the spring of 2006. This local program works with Orange County kindergarten through 12th-grade schools.
Fuss collaborated with Melanie Hunter, a teacher at Memorial Middle School, during the spring 2007 semester. Hunter taught the gifted program, which consisted of six students ranging from sixth through eighth grade.
Fuss used theater techniques to help the students understand the Sunshine State books that they were reading as preparation for their reading competition.
"I have a great passion for arts education in general," Fuss said, "and it was a really beautiful opportunity to be able to work first hand with students."
Fuss earned her bachelor of arts degree in theater from Florida State University. She is currently a second-year Master of Fine Arts candidate, studying Theatre for Young Audiences at UCF.
"[ArtsBridge is] a really nice bridge between students majoring in the arts and K-12 teachers," said Megan Alrutz, the founder and director of ArtsBridge UCF.
Alrutz is also an associate theater professor at UCF and the coordinator of MFA for the Theatre for Young Audiences program. She was an ArtsBridge scholar as a graduate student at Arizona State University.
"The biggest thing is I'd like people to know that ArtsBridge offers an opportunity for artists to practice their work in an environment with young people," Alrutz said. "As the opportunity for arts experience decreases in schools and in the community, our responsibility as artists grows larger."
ArtsBridge UCF is now accepting applications for spring 2008.
The application requires students to propose a project that they would like to pursue for the upcoming spring semester.
Potential scholars must be graduate or undergraduate students with arts discipline or an arts education major or minor. Prior experience is not required, however an interest in the classroom environment is necessary.
The program requires 45 hours each semester and may count as either a zero or one-credit class.
"It's not a massive program, but it's an exciting one," said Shelli Kinsley, co-coordinator of ArtsBridge UCF. "And it has opened doors for people, and I think the bottom line is that no one has walked away from this project going, 'I'll never do that again.'
"They walk away saying, 'I wish I could do it again. Can I do it again? How can I get this experience again?'"
Kinsley is a graduate student at UCF and is pursuing her MFA in the Teaching Young Audiences program. She earned her bachelor of arts in theater from UCF.
This is Kinsley's third semester with ArtsBridge UCF.
"Give it a try; apply," Kinsley said. "And know that UCF is doing something to put art in schools. I think that's a better big deal too, as a whole. It's UCF giving back to the community, and I think we ask 'What can UCF do for me?' a lot, and this is what UCF is doing for other people, which is cool."
For more information on ArtsBridge UCF, visit http://artsbridge.ucf.edu.