Arts Integration Deepens Learning at East Millbrook

November 13, 2019

Talk to East Millbrook Magnet Middle School Academy of the Visual and Performing Arts faculty, parents and students and you’ll encounter wide smiles and sparkly eyes. You’ll also hear the words “happy, love – and magic.”

What’s going on over there? Not exactly magic - but every darn bit as exciting.

The magnet program’s weaving of the arts into core curriculum (math, science, English Language Arts and social studies) builds layers of depth into its students' learning experiences.

Arts integration

“It’s visual art, performing art … it’s movement, music. All of the disciplines of art are included with arts integration,” said Joanna Caves, the school’s magnet program coordinator. “We are looking for student engagement to increase. We are looking for students to have the opportunity to take a much deeper dive into the curriculum. We are looking to increase the academic rigor that is happening in the classroom.”

So … what does that mean exactly? Among countless examples of arts integration:

• A social studies class has been discussing the history and topography of the state of North Carolina. The social studies teacher leads the classroom discussion and activities. But the students meander down the hall to the bright and colorful classroom of the school’s full-time arts integration specialist, Marla Brautman. There they witness what the topography looks and feels like. Students also pick up skills for creating a topography map, even learning Japanese suminagashi - painting on water to create marbleized effects on paper - to liven up the illustration of the state's rivers.
  
  
• A science class studying elements, compounds and mixtures also explores the work of Wassily Kandinsky, generally considered the pioneer of abstract art. His work tended to be very circular in nature so students create abstract paintings to reveal sections of compounds, elements and mixtures of the two. They use balance, shape and color to express these abstract concepts.
  
  
• An English Language Arts class investigates symbolism among different cultures and how those cultures honor their dead. So they create miniature 3-D “fantasy vessels” or memorials to honor someone they’ve lost.
  
  
• How does a science class put a new twist on its weather unit? With dance, of course! Students are creating dance movements that artistically interpret high pressure, low pressure, polar, tropical and many other weather terms.
  
  
• Orchestra students compose their own music and are now building their own instruments. They simultaneously study the art and science of sound. These lucky kids also will visit the North Carolina Symphony, perform at the Governor’s Mansion during the holidays, treat Busch Gardens patrons to a free concert and welcome local professional musicians as guest instructors.

‘Just a fun place to be’

“I feel that (East Millbrook) is an exciting place to come to actually learn without realizing you’re learning,” said Brautman. “It’s just a fun place to be. And then you see light bulbs go off, like ‘Oh right! I didn’t realize that!’ To somehow move through it, (students) see things differently.’”

Caves said that a team of teachers attended the Kennedy Center’s National Arts Integration Conference in Washington, D.C. last June to learn how to fully implement arts integration at East Millbrook.

“We have adopted (the Center's) approach to arts integration, which means students are either learning new content through the art form or they are demonstrating their understanding of content through the art form,” said Caves.

Artists-in-residence also can be found on the EMMMS campus. Local artists who work in various media create side-by-side with students. And there are service learning projects centered around the arts.

Arts course offerings include 2D Visual Art, 3D Visual Art, Theatre, Chorus, Band, Orchestra, Dance, Piano Lab, and Electric Strings.

In addition, students who elect to dive deeper into a chosen art form can participate in “The Guild,” which offers two back-to-back periods of study. This is available for all the above courses except electric strings.

Great teachers who understand their students

Seventh-grader Riley Gallagher is in the orchestra guild. That means she has 80 minutes of orchestra instruction every single day. This allows for not only general rehearsal, but also breaking into concentrated sectional rehearsals, and individualized instruction from the orchestra teacher.

Riley said she loves having the opportunity to spend so much time concentrating on her passion. She also is very happy with the general attitudes and atmosphere that make going to school more fun for her.

“There’s a lot of diversity here, and we have a lot of different arts programs,” said Riley. “The teachers are very nice. I think we have a lot of great teachers here. They have experience and they know about kids and what we like. They understand us, and I think that makes for a better experience.”

Riley’s mom Jennifer Gallagher said she wasn’t dissatisfied with any of the school options available to her family, but she felt that East Millbrook would be the best fit. So far, she’s been right.

“She really loves it,” Jennifer said of Riley. “She feels really good about going to school. Every day she wakes up on her own and gets ready and she even wants to get there early. The environment is really good, and that’s important.”

“We felt like going to East Millbrook was going to be that path for her to explore her character through music. I feel like we made a really good choice.”

‘Dream problem to have’

Caves said that core content teachers have been inspired by the arts integration component.

“As (teachers) see the magic happen in the arts integration classroom, they’re more excited to take it back to their classroom,” said Caves. “It might take longer, but the learning is so deep and rich that the content will stay with the student longer than if they took a different approach. The only way this model will work with fidelity is if it goes both ways. It’s not only the responsibility of the core teacher to integrate the art, but also the art teacher to integrate the core.”

East Millbrook Principal Aaron Marcin said the original plan was to start full-on arts integration with the sixth grade and build the program each year. This included an upgrade to the entire sixth-grade building.

“We have transformed what life in sixth grade looks like because we believe if we start this foundation of a middle school experience and grow that, that’s where we are going to see the most impact,” said Marcin. 

Word about the program’s impact has spread throughout the school and community – fast. So fast in fact that they’re tapping the accelerator a bit.

“The rest of the teachers in this building saw it, heard about it and now cannot wait to do it,” said Marcin.

So, Marcin and his team are working to expedite implementation into the higher grades. Finding resources to do this so quickly is a bit of a challenge, but one Marcin described as a “dream problem to have.”