2010 APS Arts Education Conference hits a High note

UPDATE: Watch this video/photo gallery which includes perspectives from participants here. Watch Camille Russell Love’s keynote address here.

Atlanta Public Schools‘ performing and visual arts educators gathered for the 2010 Arts Education Conference at the High Museum on Sept. 24-25. Here APS Performing and Fine Arts Director Cynthia Terry and Education Coordinator/Visual Arts Raymond Veon discuss the goals of the conference, and its theme: “Values, Voice and Vision.” Camille Russell Love, director of the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs, delivered the keynote address at the reception, while Arthur McClinton, band director at M. Agnes Jones Elementary, performed.

The conference was financed in part through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, and is aided by APS’ partnership with the Woodruff Arts Center.

Teachers attended sessions that covered classroom management, lesson planning and student assessment as well as offering roundtable discussions. This made a huge different for Ali Isabelle, a second-year art teacher at King Middle School. She came to Atlanta from the public school system in Jacksonville, where she taught elementary school. “Being a new teacher at the middle school level, one of the most important things is meeting other teachers and realizing you’re not alone,” Isabelle said. “You make that connection. It really keeps you in check. The more professional development you receive, the less stagnant you are, and it motivates you to try to do something new and different.”