Performing Arts Workshop Sticker Contest!
by Anne Trickey

The Workshop invites YOU to join us in the creative process! Design a slogan or catch phrase that embodies our mission to help young people develop critical thinking, creative expression and basic learning skills through the arts. The winner's name and slogan will appear on the Workshop’s website and thousands of people throughout the San Francisco Bay Area will see your words on the Workshop’s sticker!

The winner will also receive a Performing Arts Workshop T-Shirt and Tote, as well as a $50 gift card to Trader Joe’s.

Contest Rules: Submitted entries must not exceed 55 characters. Using words from the Workshop’s Mission, Methodology (the Cycle of Artistic Inquiry) and provided word bank are highly encouraged.

Submit entries by Monday, November 29th to info@performingartsworkshop.org. The Workshop retains all rights of use for any entries submitted.

Fall is Here
by Karena Salmond

…and we’ve hit the ground running at Performing Arts Workshop!  Here are some things we’re excited about:

• Our Preschool for All project is in its first cycle of programming. This year, we’ll be serving sites more deeply through 11-week preschool classes with an additional exploration in documentation and making learning visible.  Stay tuned for a pre-k documentation story!

• Major news!!!  Performing Arts Workshop has been awarded a 4-year Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination grant from the U.S. Department of Education to explore how our Artists-in-Schools program supports the development of 21st Century skills.  We are thrilled to have our work recognized for a third time at the federal level and look forward to sharing our results from our forthcoming evaluation.

• In addition to our own U.S. Department of Education grant, we are kicking off the planning year of Global Writes’ USDE project, on which we are the San Francisco partner.  The project will focus on middle school creative writing and performance, encouraging youth from San Francisco to share and collaborate their work with youth in New York. We can’t wait to begin this cross-country partnership!

• Our Artists-in-Communities program was renewed for funding from the Department of Children, Youth and their Families, allowing us to serve a large number of students who may not otherwise have access to the arts in homeless shelters, transitional housing, and afterschool programs.  It is exciting to know we can continue serving some long-term community partners in addition to some new ones!

Most of all, we are eager to continue expanding our breadth of service during the 2010-11 school year.  If you have not already booked us in your school or community center, please contact Karena Salmond, Senior Program Manager, while we still have availability:  (415) 673-2634 x202 or karena@performingartsworkshop.org.  Here’s to another great year!

Welcome, Aurora Toshiko King!
by Karena Salmond

The Workshop is pleased to announce a new addition to our staff, Aurora Toshiko King.  Aurora will serve as Program Coordinator to help manage site partnerships and assist with daily program operations.  She brings years of youth development experience as the After School and Enrichment Director at Paul Revere School in San Francisco and knows the Workshop well through our long-term partnership there.  She is also a writer and hopes to open an arts space in Oakland.  Aurora’s first day will be November 1st.  Please join us in welcoming her!   

Contact Aurora Toshiko King - aurora@performingartsworkshop.org

You Don't Have to be a Millionaire to Make a Difference
by Brian Wiedenmeier

Performing Arts Workshop is proud to announce the Gloria Unti Legacy Society. Membership to the Legacy Society is open to anyone who has included Performing Arts Workshop in their will or estate plan. We’re inviting anyone interested in learning more about the Gloria Unti Legacy Society and making a planned estate gift to Performing Arts Workshop to attend a reception at our offices.

Please join us for wine and hors d’oeuvres
Thursday, November 18th
5-7pm (there will be a brief program at 6pm)
1661 Tennessee St. (at Cesar Chavez), Suite 3-O

We hope you’ll join us to learn how you can use your estate plan to support the future of arts education in the Bay Area. Founder and Director Emeritus Gloria Unti will be in attendance. You can also learn more on our website.

Please RSVP to Brian Wiedenmeier:
brian@PerformingArtsWorkshop.org
(415) 673-2634x20

Arts & Achievement for All
by Tom DeCaigny

On Tuesday, October 19th Performing Arts Workshop was proud to co-present "Arts and Achievement for All," a public forum for the 2010 San Francisco Board of Education candidates. The event took place at KQED Public Media and was free of charge to the public. Moy Eng, who served for eight years as the Performing Arts Program Director at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, moderated the discussion which focused on the future of art and student achievement in San Francisco public schools.  Eight San Francisco Board of Education candidates participated in the forum and completed a questionnaire articulating their views on the role of the arts in improving public education for all students.  A podcast of the forum can be found on the KQED news website. 

The forum was sponsored by the Partnership for Creative Learning, a local action coalition founded by Performing Arts Workshop and dedicated to educational excellence for all of San Francisco’s public school students. The Partnership states, "Too many young people miss the opportunity to benefit from the creative process as part of their public education because of ever-growing barriers like limited instructional time or re-allocation of funding due to severe budget cuts. But teaching and engaging youth in the arts is more than just a nicety; it is a necessity that positions young people for success in school, work and in life. Quality arts curriculum and programs make youth more innovative, creative, and better critical thinkers – vitally important skills that every child needs and deserves in the 21st Century.  We believe all of San Francisco’s students – not just those whose families can afford it – deserve the opportunity to excel through a quality arts education."

Deepening Our Service to Youth
by Anne Trickey

Once again the Workshop has served a record number of youth through our program. In the 2009-2010 fiscal year over 7,500 young people strengthened their critical thinking skills while experiencing an innovative way of learning. Over 30 professional Teaching Artists participated in bringing performing arts to Bay Area young people who need and deserve a space for creative expression. Although money is tight for many of our school and community partners, we remain committed to program quality and the development of young people's leadership and basic learning skills through art. 

Youth Served by Program
Performing Arts Workshop divides its programs into Artists-in-Schools (AIS) and Artists-in-Communities (AIC). AIS serves youth in elementary through high school settings, as well as a large number of preschools. AIC serves youth in after-school programs, homeless shelters/housing facilities, and county community/court schools. The Workshop has increased our AIC program by 61% since 2008-2009 while simultaneously increasing our depth of service by increasing weekly class hours, as well as raising the number of class sessions that last at least 23 weeks.

Youth Served by Ethnicity
The Workshop continues to reach out to under served and under-resourced areas of the population, as well as youth others might refer to as “at-risk.”

Youth Served by Population
The 2009-2010 year marked the last implementation year of project ARISE, a U.S. Department of Education grant that focused on the Workshop’s program’s effect on special education students. One of the more interesting outcomes was that over the duration of the project, students who participated scored statistically significantly better on Math tests, showed improved attendance and decreased tardiness when compared to students who did not experience the program. Our programs are improving students' focus and concentration, as well as attitudes toward school and learning.

Balancing the Budget with Direct Service in Mind
While our budget decreased by 7% in 2009-2010, we increased our direct service hours. By stabilizing our programs, deepening long-term partnerships and focusing on our youth outcomes and program quality, we actually reached more young people through long-term programming. The Workshop strives to better not only the quantity, but the quality of service we provide every year. In this way, 2009-2010 was a great success!

A Season of Change
by Jessica Mele

In September 2010, two great Workshop employees moved on to new exciting challenges. We are all very happy for them, but of course our happiness is bittersweet!

Mariel
Mariel dela Paz, our Program Manager for Artists-in-Communities, has resigned from her position at Performing Arts Workshop to complete her MSW internship hours at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco. Mariel has been an integral part of our Program Team for 3 years. She grew the Artists-in-Communities program to more deeply serve the youth who need our programs and most, and solidified Performing Arts Workshop as an authority on Youth Development and the Arts, particularly in Out of School time. We wish her well in her new career path!

Mariel’s last official day was September 16. She will continue to serve on a limited contract-basis through October 29.

Yolanda
Yolanda Salone, our part-time Administrative Assistant, began with the Workshop in March 2010 through San Francisco’s Human Services Agency’s Jobs NOW! program, part of the federal TANF funds. Sadly, without congressional reauthorization, the program ended on September 30, 2010, and the Workshop again had to eliminate the Administrative Assistant position.  We are sad to see Yolanda go, but are very happy to announce that she has found full-time employment with the San Francisco Conservation Corps!
 
New Program Team at the Workshop
I am also excited to announce the promotion of Karena Salmond to Senior Program Manager, overseeing both Artists-in-Schools and Artists-in-Communities. In the last 3 years, we have observed a merging of in- and out-of-school time programming among our site partners, and it makes sense at this time for one person to oversee both programs.

Artist Spotlight: Jose Barroso
by Anne Trickey

The Artist Spotlight gives the Workshop a chance to showcase artists currently igniting young minds in schools and communities. This month we are featuring Jose Barroso.

What brings you to Performing Arts Workshop?

I joined Performing Arts Workshop in 2009 at the recommendation of a fellow artist, Tedje Rose. She encouraged me to look into this organization, expressing how supportive it is for artists and how effective it is at bringing dance to children in schools.  I did, and I have found everything she said about the Workshop to be true. Over a year later, I continue to value the opportunity to teach and share with young students the art and culture of my country, Cuba.  I came to the Workshop with a great deal of professional experience and personal knowledge of Cuban dance, however the Workshop provides me with the strategic tools necessary for implementing dance education to achieve the maximum benefit to the student. I am grateful to this supportive staff that continues to provide artists with the strong support needed to bring world dance to students in elementary through high school.

I personally enjoy passing on the traditional dances of my country, not only because these are the same dances I grew up with, but because through dance I am able to give children of all ages a peek at deep cultural significances and a vast history that these dances carry. By teaching these children, I am at once preserving my own culture and renewing it in myself.

Growing up in Cuba, dance was both community building and an outlet for self expression. I realize now that dance also provided me with a way to learn history and social conduct, among many other benefits. I believe that children learning the dance forms I bring them will not only have fun moving but develop an understanding of a new culture.

As a Cuban of both African and Spanish heritage, I am often exposing students to new concepts and aesthetics and bridging cultures in a positive way that I hope prepares them to be open, tolerant and critical thinking students now, and citizens later.

Where can we see you in action?

I teach Afro-Cuban Orisha Dance with live bata drumming to adults (all levels) at ODC Dance Commons in San Francisco every Tuesday at 7pm. I also teach numerous master classes and workshops throughout the Bay Area. My group Obakoso Drum & Dance was founded in 1996 as a performance group dedicated to the preservation and celebration of African Cuban music and dance and can be found performing at various Bay Area venues, festivals, and cultural centers throughout the year. My events schedule can be found on my website: www.obakoso.org