PONCHO’s Revitalized Hopes and Dreams for Arts and Students
Submitted by Steve on August 2, 2012
From Lorna Kneeland, Executive Director of PONCHO, guest blogging at 4Culture:
In the past few years, there has been a fair amount of public attention (but not enough) on the dire state and inequity of arts learning for K-12 students. The expectation that arts are an essential aspect to student education has been lost. This year in Seattle, not a single arts organization was deemed qualified for the Families and Education Levy. This is surprising given the great deal of research demonstrating the strong link that arts education has to academic success and social development.
Long term studies show that students from low socio-economic status that have consistent arts rich learning are over twice as likely to earn a college degree compared to those that do not. Creative learning provides purpose, connection to concepts, collaborative ability and engagement that equate to deep learning. In short, arts education is critical and we must demand arts learning for our young people.