HUNTSVILLE — Members of local and state arts organizations gathered Sept. 19 at the Playhouse Theatre inside the Von Braun Center to launch a new program aiming to strengthen arts initiatives in North Alabama schools.

Allison Dillon-Jauken, executive director of Arts Huntsville, welcomed guests and introduced the North Alabama Arts Education Collaborative. In explaining the need for a more arts-integrated curriculum, in schools, she referenced a researcher from the University of Alabama whose data illustrates that 90 percent of the highest-scoring schools on the ACT plan have significant access to arts education. She also said this allows students to learn in new ways, helping them to become more engaged and invested in their education.

“The collaborative is designed to increase student access to arts education opportunities, both those offered by our amazing regional arts organizations, as well as locally trained teaching artists,” Dillon Jauken said. “Through integrated arts partnerships in our schools, teaching artists will join classroom teachers to use the arts to engage students in core subjects such as math, science, social studies and language arts.”

According to Dillon-Jauken, arts education has been one of Arts Huntsville’s core program areas since the organization was founded in 1962. For the past five years Arts Huntsville has been discussing the subject in Montgomery, and over the past three years, 22 leaders have come together from across Alabama to develop the state’s Plan for Arts Education. She said the Alabama Artistic Literacy Consortium was formed to support this plan for arts education.

Karen Anderson, director of the NAAEC, said the program will provide outreach to six school districts in North Alabama: Huntsville City, Madison City, Madison County, Athens City, Limestone County and Decatur City schools. Highlights from the NAAEC’s goals for this pilot year include providing arts education and arts integration-focused professional development training for teachers, arts organizations and artists, as well as integrated arts partnerships in area schools across the region.

“Instruction in the arts should always—and I mean always—be part of any well-rounded education program,” Anderson said.

As a former music teacher for more than 30 years in public schools from Kentucky to Texas to Huntsville, Anderson said she has seen firsthand the benefits of including arts in the curriculum.

“I have seen very shy students gain tremendous confidence and social skills through the arts,” she said. “I have seen students who have struggled academically experience success through the arts, which motivated them to work harder in all of their other subject areas.”

In a video, local educators also discussed the benefits of having an arts-integrated curriculum with a teaching artist, using the example of having students use writing and social studies to put together a play about Native Americans.

“Seeing them go from not wanting to write to wanting to write was unbelievable,” said Mariel Miller, teacher at Williams Elementary School.

“[One change] that we saw was how well the kids worked together with each other and how they really grew as a group with listening to each other, problem-solving with each other, [and] honoring each other’s ideas so that then they could put this all together,” said Dr. Michele Wallace, principal of Challenger Elementary School. “Those kinds of things are lifelong lessons that all of us need to know.”

To hear more educators’ testimonials of an arts-integrated curriculum, watch the full video at artshuntsville.org/arts-education.

Alabama’s Speaker of the House, Mac McCutcheon, emphasized his personal support and the support of the Alabama State Legislature for the NAAEC and arts education in general.

“I realize that in Alabama, one size, one type of program does not fit all, and … the group that’s supporting this—they’ve realized that as well,” McCutcheon said. “ … I have seen some programs dealing with the arts in some of our schools, and you can just see the enlightenment in children as you attend some of these programs and you talk to them about what they’re learning and their ability to be creative and add to something that’s so important to them in their education.”

The NAAEC, which operates in association with the Alabama State Department of Education, is funded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts with the support of the Alabama State Legislature. Dillon-Jauken noted that Huntsville is one of just three cities home to regional arts organizations that are launching this program, along with Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.

Anderson said there will be two networking and informational opportunities for artists and educators in the area. The first will be Sept. 27 from 4-6 p.m. at the Princess Theatre in Decatur, and the second will be Sept. 28 from 6-8 p.m. at the Yellowhammer Beer Hall in Huntsville. There will be door prizes and refreshments.

Those interested in bringing an integrated arts partnership to their classrooms can email Anderson at karen@artshuntsville.org. To access the artist application or download the annual arts education resource guide, visit artshuntsville.org/arts-education.

“[The NAAEC] is truly a collaborative effort for the North Alabama region,” Dillon-Jauken said. “We live in the most creative, innovative community in America, and we want ensure—we must ensure—that our children have the creative, innovative thinking skills to continue that legacy.”