Arts in the Public Schools

Growing up in Sarasota, Florida it was hard to avoid the arts in any capacity. From the local arts festivities that take place weekly, to the seven community and professional theatres located within a 5 mile radius of downtown, and of course the amazing schools that offer the arts at every level of education, Sarasota is a town that has truly recognized the value of the arts.

The arts teaches history, acceptance, community, teamwork, self expression, physical fitness and many more increasingly important topics, yet many school districts fail to notice it. If it weren't for the amazing theatre program established at my high school there would be hundreds of students who would have failed to acquire a high school education. These programs where the catalysts that woke these school-sick students up in the mornings. These programs were the reason they attended their educational courses. These programs are what made them keep up their GPA for fear of the programs strict attandance and grades policy. It is obvious that high school students are not waking up at 6 a.m. on a daily basis with the exciting thoughts of a chemistry exam, or history final being their fuel. These students are waking up every morning because they know that when they have successfully completed their academic courses, they will spend time working on what they truly love. An art form that will let them be expressive. An assignment with no true guidelines. An assignment in which you can not be wrong, just different. Which in the art world, is a success within it self.

The arts programs are essential to learning at any age, and can not only be offered to the illustrious few who can attend a private school. Arts programs need to be fully integrated into every level of learning fro pre-school until your final graduation. It is these programs that will keep students in school, and keep them excited to learn.

"A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind."
 -James Allen