Alameda County Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership » Arts Active Parent

ARTS ACTIVE PARENT June 2008 - Volume 3, Issue 9
Educate Yourself! Staying up to date with the latest research in education theory isn't so hard if you have access to the internet and know where to look. Here are a couple of links that you may find interesting. New EdSource Report: Raising African American Student Achievement: California Goals, Local Outcomes At a time when closing achievement gaps among student groups is a topic of vigorous policy debate, this free 24-page report takes a look at African American students in California's public schools: where they go to school and how they are doing academically. You can download this report for free or order an inexpensive printed copy to be mailed to you. Click here or go to www.edsource.org. ACOE's Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership has done much good work that makes Alameda County a national model. To learn more about what's going on here, and how we compare to other places, visit: Keep Arts In Schools - go to www.keepartsinschools.org and click "programs." The Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership's own website, newly redesigned to be more complete and easier to navigate, at www.artiseducation.org. The Arts Active Parent Handbook will be available this month. To get your free copy, just send an email request to artsactiveparent (at) yahoo (dot) com. Please indicate if you'd rather have it electronically or on paper, and where we should send it.	Parents Making a Difference: Getting Out In Your Community With Your Kids Alameda County has many communities, and almost all have regular opportunities for families to come together in a festival atmosphere. These events usually have much to enjoy without spending a lot of money, and can be a fun and enriching experience for both you and your kids. Fairs and festivals are sponsored by organizations ranging from churches and schools to cultural and merchants' associations. The banner pictured above greeted attendees of the Oakland Youth Arts Festival at the Oakland Museum of California. Below, a student artist from Piedmont Avenue Elementary School, and his mom, pose next to his painting in the gallery. Beans on Cardboard - A Masterpiece! Hayward Adult School Parenting Education Department and the Hayward Parent Nursery School are hosted the 8th Annual Children's Arts & Science Festival last month. The young artist below attended with his mom and younger sibling.
Community-Building Fundraiser ArtEsteem is a program that brings visual and cultural arts to children in a number of local schools, and just one of several programs developed and offered by West Oakland's Attitudinal Healing Connection. (www.ahc-oakland.org) The 10th Annual Exhibition and Art Show, "Self as Super Hero: Critical Thought for Social Action," brought together several hundred families, donors, and well-wishers. Here, Dr. Sonia BasSheva Mañjon accepts the ArtEsteem Superhero award from program Director Amana Harris. (Both are Arts Active Parents.) Dr. Mañjon is leaving her post as Director of the Center for Art and Public Life at the California College of the Arts (http://center.cca.edu/) to take the newly created position of Vice President of Diversity and Strategic Partnerships at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
Free and Inexpensive Things to Do With Your Kids in June and Into the Summer!
Free Museum Days Many of our local museums have periodic free days. If you'd like to take your kids to a museum but find the price of admission a little steep, this is a great way to try out the experience. Below are SOME of the free days advertised by local museums, and you'll find more as you look around. Check their websites to confirm the day and see addresses/directions. Alameda Museum - Admission to the museum is free, although donations are encouraged. www.alamedamuseum.org Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive - free admission first Thursday of each month, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu Chabot Space and Science Center - free telescope viewing, Friday - Saturday evenings, weather permitting, 7:30-10:30 p.m. www.chabotspace.org Habitot Children's Museum - free admission days once or twice a month, check website, www.habitot.org Hall of Health/Children's Hospital Oakland - free admission to Hall of Health museum Saturday June 14, free special programs July 3 (Brainiacs: Science Discovery Theater) and July 17 (Multicultural Health Fair) www.hallofhealth.org Hayward Area Historical Society Downtown Museum - admission always free, www.haywardareahistory.org/downtownmuseum.asp MOCHA Museum of Children's Art, gallery admission is always free, www.mocha.org Oakland Museum of California - free admission second Sunday of each month www.museumca.org Old Murray Schoolhouse Gallery in Dublin - always free admission, click here or find it through the Dublin city website, www.ci.dublin.ca.us.	Alameda - Saturday, June 7, 9am - 4pm Final Event Day for the KIDS' CHALK ART PROJECT Satellite Photograph 11:30am for the Guinness Book of World Records Sponsored "squares" will benefit Alameda elementary schools' art programs. Naval Air Base of Alameda Point, for information and directions, or to contribute, visit www.reenchantingtheworldthroughart.org. Hayward - Friday, June 13, 4-7 p.m. STAR ARTS Grand Opening! 26755 Hayward Blvd., #D Arts Active Parent Suzanne Gayle is opening her own establishment, which in addition to retail art supplies will offer visual art programs , drop in art, and art parties. You're invited to the Grand Opening event, with a ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. by Hayward Mayor Mike Sweeney and members of the Hayward Chamber of Commerce! Free, fun crafts and games, refreshments. For information call 510-581-2787. Oakland - Sunday, June 15, 12-5 p.m. Cool Daddy-O (Oakland Museum's Fathers' Day Event!) Calling all Hipsters and Flipsters. Honor your finger-poppin' daddies and celebrate Fathers Day at the museum! Check out cool chariots, beasts (cars) and bikes. The Shorty Fatz lowrider bike crew will show visitors some basics skills for customizing bikes. Be there or be square. Included with museum admission. www.museumca.org Musical Theater Under the Stars! Kids Come FREE Woodminster Summer Musicals' 42nd season continues the tradition of Kids Come Free. Purchase one adult ticket and get a free ticket for someone 16 or younger. Woodminster Amphitheater is in a redwood grove in Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park. Bring a picnic and make a family event of it! July 11-20 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, August 8-17 Seussical the Musical, September 5-14 The Pirates of Penzance. www.woodminster.com The first show of the Woodminster Summer Musicals season is "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," opening July 11. Info here.
ALAMEDA COUNTY ALLIANCE FOR ARTS LEARNING LEADERSHIP In 1999, the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) convened the Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership (Alliance) to address the huge gap in arts education resources in the county public schools. The Alliance is a collaboration of the ACOE, its 18 school districts, principals, teachers, teaching artists, arts organizations, parents, community members, policymakers and students. Its mission is to ensure delivery of high quality education through arts learning for every child, in every school, every day. For information about the Alameda County Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, how it supports arts education in public schools, and how to get involved, visit www.artiseducation.org. If you know of people who would be interested in receiving this newsletter, please ask them to send me their email addresses. We gratefully acknowledge the Walter and Elise Haas Fund for sponsoring the Arts Learning Parent Involvement Project to create stronger ties between homes and schools around the arts. Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership Alameda County Office of Education artsactiveparent (at) yahoo (dot) com You received this email because we believe you are interested in arts education in Alameda County. If you do not wish to receive this email, simply respond with the word "delete" in the subject line and you will immediately be removed from our Arts Active Parent list.