Arts in the Schools
Arts in the Schools
ECHO Charter Theatre Trip
John White: writer, photographer, retired journalist; Georgette Jones: literature teacher, theatre actor/director/teacher; Marilee Strom: musician, former art teacher, business owner; Kathy Fransen: musician, theatre, Rhythm of the River coordinator; Janet Olney: visual artist, Willmar Area Arts Council coordinator; Joyce Meyer: photographer, retired art teacher, Canby Arts Council; Pam Blake: retired art educator, visual artist, Tyler Arts Council, Lincoln County Art Fair, South Dakota Arts Educators Association, Southwest Minnesota Weaver's Guild; Michele Knife Sterner: theatre actor, Southwest Minnesota State University Associate Director for Access Opportunity Success program; Tom Wirt: artist, owner of Clay Coyote Gallery, Hutchinson Center for the Arts, past member of Hutchinson Public Arts Commission; Joyce Aakre: visual arts, writing, Discover Dassel committee, Board member for Litchfield Community Education, Exhibit committee for Dassel Area Historical Society; Kelly Muldoon: graphic artist, Prairie Music Association, Prairie Oasis Players; Dan Wahl: writer, visual artist, director, adjunct English instructor at Southwest Minnesota State University; Anne O'Keefe-Jackson: human resources director, bead and quill work; Cindy Reverts: visual artist, Rock County Fine Arts Association treasurer, Council for Arts in Humanities in Rock County; Brett Lehman: Worthington International Festival, Worthington City Band, Worthington Concert Association; Reggie Gorter: vocalist, theatre, voice and dance teacher; Dana Johnson: producer/filmmaker; Claire Swanson: visual arts, arts teacher, Meander Art Crawl Committee.
Mary Kay Frisvold: music; Cheryl Jeska: Music, education; Anne O'Keefe-Jackson: Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Board, human resources director, bead and quill work; Kelly Pochardt: Visual art, education; John Sterner: Visual art, education; John White: Southwest Minnesota Arts Council Board, writer, photographer, retired journalist.
ACHF Arts Education
The main goal of this grant is to overcome barriers to accessing high-quality arts activities for the students who participate. ECHO Charter School's percentage of students who are considered at risk based on family income is 68%. The cost of attending an event like a Broadway musical is prohibitive to all but a very few of our families. We hope that the goal of overcoming barriers to accessing high-quality arts activities through this grant will also further our goal of instilling the arts into the community and public life of our region and supporting high-quality, age appropriate arts education for the students of ECHO Charter School to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding of the arts. We will measure success based on the number of students participating and the student surveys designed to measure, to some extent, the impact of the arts experiences.
100% of the students who attended the field trip were surprised at how much they enjoyed the Minnesota Institute of Art. Only one of the students remembered having been to an art museum before. All the participants expressed a desire to return to the MIA. 92% expressed a desire to try their hand at a specific kind of art based on their trip to the museum.100% of the participants expressed an increased desire to participate in and/or attend theater performances.100% of the participants gave the performance of Wicked the highest possible review.