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Young Audiences Kicks Off Eighth Year of smART stART
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
ATLANTA, Ga. – This January, kindergarten students in six Title I metro Atlanta schools will learn reading readiness skills by participating in strategic arts-activities through smART stART – the signature arts-based, early literacy initiative of Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center (YAWAC).
The program provides every kindergarten classroom in participating schools with an eight-session, in-classroom residency delivered by one of YAWAC’s professional teaching artists. During the residency each artist will connect an arts discipline – dance, music, theatre or visual arts – with critical literacy building activities, helping students grasp key language arts concepts and improving their ability to retell a story with a beginning, middle and end.
Participating school districts for the 2010 program include Atlanta Public Schools, Marietta City Schools and – for the first time – DeKalb County Schools.
smART stART schools also receive an all-school assembly performance by the YAWAC teaching artist and a selection of books for each kindergarten teacher’s classroom library.
“The smART stART program uses the arts to give these young learners basic literacy skills that will serve as a foundation for their success in life. We are delighted to be bringing this program to kindergarten classes once again,” said Tony Kimbrell, executive director of Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center. “Each year, we look forward to hearing of the progress these students make through smART stART.”
This year’s smART stART program is made possible by the sponsorship and support of Target, Macy’s, the Harland Foundation and the Junior League of Atlanta, Inc.
ABOUT YOUNG AUDIENCES, WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER
Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center (YAWAC) is Georgia’s leading provider of arts-in-education programming. Part of the prestigious 31 chapter national Young Audiences organization, YAWAC brings the power of live arts experiences to Georgia students from pre-school to high school. From a small organization of nine artists in 1983, YAWAC is celebrating 25 years of service and has grown into a force in arts education, comprised of more than 65 professional artists and ensembles that reach nearly 640,000 students each year in over 50 counties statewide. We fulfill our mission – to transform the lives and learning of young people through the arts – by providing a dazzling and culturally diverse array of curriculum-based assemblies, workshops and residencies in music, dance, theatre, literary and visual arts. For more information, please visit www.yawac.org.
ABOUT WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER
The Woodruff Arts Center is the largest arts center in the Southeast as well as one of the four largest in the nation. The Woodruff is unique in that it combines five visual and performing arts divisions on one campus as one not-for-profit organization. Opening in 1968, the Woodruff Arts Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art, Young Audiences and the 14th Street Playhouse.
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CONTACT
Carisa Turner
(404) 733-5255
carisa.turner@woodruffcenter.org
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