Arts Impact is a two-year professional development program that trains k-5 classroom teachers in King and Pierce Counties (WA) to independently teach visual and performing arts. Each year, this intensive, 92-hour training program includes the following components: a 30-hour, hands-on summer institute; a 10-hour, one-on-one classroom mentorship with a different artist each year; a minimum of two supplemental workshops in arts concepts, skills, and techniques; and a free cultural study trip with students to an exhibition or live performance to complement an arts lesson. Arts Impact focuses on foundational arts concepts and skills, a concept-based approach to lesson planning and writing, and performance-based assessment strategies. The goal is to empower K-5 teachers to become competent and confident teachers of visual and performing arts.
Arts Impact, in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools, also has a program aimed at student learning. The Arts Impact Arts Infused Summer School teaches second-, third-, and fourth-grade Title I students selected math and literacy concepts through the arts. The arts-infused curriculum pairs concepts that exist in both an arts discipline and another core academic subject: for example, symmetry in visual arts and math, sequenced patterns in dance and math, and story structure in theater and literacy.
