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Bringing MAGIC to our Schools

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Contributed by: Marie Norby-Loud on 10/19/2006

Study after study, conducted throughout the country, tell us that arts in education help close the achievement gap, foster critical thinking skills and increase student retention. From my perspective as a principal at an elementary school, I know all of this to be true. I also know that finding the resources to ensure the arts are a part of learning is not easy. For us at Stevens Elementary, the MAGIC Arts Supply Drive, sponsored by the Colorado Alliance for Arts Education, has been a godsend.

For the past thirty years, the Colorado Alliance for Arts Education has advocated on behalf of our state's children for the inclusion and expansion of arts education opportunities. The Alliance has provided professional development workshops for hundreds of teachers who are looking for ways to reach their students in creative and innovative ways. And last year, in an attempt to reach children more directly, the Alliance launched the Making Arts Great In Classrooms (MAGIC) Arts Supply Drive. This campaign to collect arts supplies for needy schools throughout the metro area yielded nearly $20,000 in donated goods, benefiting about 10,000 Denver area children. This year, MAGIC has raised more than $50,000 worth of paint, clay, dance shoes, musical instruments, costumes and more - and nearly 20,000 children will be the beneficiaries.

Stevens Elementary is the proud recipient of a piano, which will enrich our music programs for many years to come, as well as clay, paint and paper which will be used in virtually every classroom. I know these supplies will support our efforts to teach, not only the arts, but math, reading, social studies and science. I also know that these supplies will bring joy to my students - and to all the students throughout the area who are receive them.

The MAGIC Arts Supply Drive is supported by foundations, corporations and individuals, whose contributions are invaluable. The Drive is managed, though, by three part-time staff people who work very hard, not only to raise the funds and friends necessary to host the drive, but to collect, sort and distribute the stuff. It's an enormous undertaking, but such a worthwhile one. A grant of $1,000 represents important support for this organization and this program. I am pleased to nominate the Colorado Alliance for Arts Education for this award.

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Marie Norby-Loud

Wheat Ridge , CO

Marie Norby-Loud has posted 1 story and 0 comments since joining on 10/19/2006. Marie Norby-Loud 's average story rating is 0.

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