Who: Live Oak Elementary (Castaic Union School District)
What: Artist in Residence and Teacher Partnerships (long-term student workshops)
Staff: Rebecca Silva

On a Monday evening in early December, 140 second grade students from Live Oak Elementary School in Castaic will take the stage of their Multipurpose Room. Facing an audience consisting of hundreds of parents, grandparents and siblings, the students will present a selection of fairy tale vignettes, which feature puppets and scripts they handcrafted this fall in a series of classroom workshops with Ellen Schulze of The Art of Puppets and Marionettes. Although this event is the culmination of a program which began for the students in September, it was longer in the making by the Live Oak school community.

In 1989, Live Oak Elementary School began a partnership with the Music Center. Demonstrating the school's belief that the arts are integral part of core instruction by committing time and resources to arts instruction, they also took the approach that providing sustained instruction in the arts requires access to community arts resources, such as training and support for classroom teachers and access to professional artists.(1)

Although their interest remained high, Live Oak faced the same dilemma as many schools are doing today -- how to stretch their limited financial resources to include these services? One solution came from the City of Santa Clarita in the form of the city's "Community Services Grant Program." When second grade teacher Dolly Bryant learned that this funding opportunity was arts connected, she worked with our staff to develop a project concept and budget, then undertook the steps to coordinate and prepare a grant application on behalf of the school, for the purpose of funding a Music Center Artist in Residence and Teacher Partnership program for all seven grade 2 classrooms in the school.

Sometimes referred to as a residency, this long-term series of sequential workshops offers in-depth instruction focusing on one art form. The Music Center artist and classroom teach work "in partnership" to develop residency content and follow-up lessons that connect workshop and classroom activities. Students develop skills within the arts discipline, expanding their multisensory perception, creative expression and critical thinking abilities. The application was submitted in October of 2004, and the school was pleased to learn in winter of 2005 that they were awarded a grant from the City of Santa Clarita.

This past September, second grade students and teachers began their residencies with puppetry and theatre artist Ellen Schulze. Starting with a theme of fairy tales, each classroom selected a story to present, with the students creating outlines, sequencing scenes and writing dialogue for their characters. They also constructed the puppets which appear in the stories, learning to manipulate polyfoam marionettes, hand/rod and stick puppets and to work ensemble in a puppetry production. Speaking of the residency programs, Ellen enthuses that "no matter the art form, the advantage is the in-depth creative process" which for these students included brainstorming, design and scripting, puppetry building and manipulation, and rehearsal and performance.

When the student take the stage that December evening, it will represent a culmination beyond a series of 12 workshops. As teacher Dolly Bryant summarizes, "It's not the presentation, it's the learning process. It's a different way of learning for them. The kids are so excited!"

(1) Excerpted from Project Proposal Narrative on grant application to the City of Santa Clarita.

For information about how a Music Center artist can be a part of your district or school program, call (213) 250-ARTS or e-mail us at schoolprograms@musiccenter.org.

Written by Marlene Leuenhagen, Associate Director, School Programs