navigate: home: magazine: fall 2002: article

Arts advocate visits Penn State
Arnold Aprill, executive director of Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, visited University Park campus to share his insights about the arts in education with Penn State faculty members and Pennsylvania teachers. Dave Shelly—Penn State Image Resource Center	A strong need exists to reclaim the arts as a central element in America’s schools, according to Arnold Aprill, executive director of Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education. “Most teachers today have no close contact with the arts, unlike in past decades when there was a piano in every classroom,” he said. Aprill was the featured speaker at the 2002 Summer Arts-in-Education Luncheon, a College of Education and Pennsylvania School Study Council event held at University Park campus. This year’s luncheon brought together 150 educators from throughout the state. During his presentation, Aprill said students who learn through the arts perform better academically, and schools that integrate the arts become more rooted in their communities. He also encouraged colleges and universities to play a role in assisting and supporting connections between artists and schools in their communities. In addition to meeting with Penn State faculty members and members of the Pennsylvania School Study Council, Aprill talked with participants of summer institutes for teachers organized by the College of Arts and Architecture and members of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
© 2002 Outreach Communications,   Outreach & Cooperative Extension,   The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108,   fax: (814) 863-2765,   e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu