Sun Valley Center for the Arts Awarded Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Sun Valley Center for the Arts is proud to announce that it has been awarded a $34,113 grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to extend the reach of The Center’s innovative Classroom Enrichment program throughout the state of Idaho by creating an Online Teacher Resource Center. The Center’s grant application for this project was one of 449 received by IMLS this year, of which 112 grant requests received funding totaling more than $19 million.
The Center designed its Classroom Enrichment Project to integrate art into core curriculum lessons (math, science, social sciences and humanities) at the secondary level. The program provides regular classroom teachers with new, powerful tools to increase student engagement, deepen understanding of the curriculum and encourage students’ self‐expression.
More than three-quarters of Idaho’s school districts are considered rural (defined as having fewer than 20 students per square mile, or a county with fewer than 25,000 people). Students in rural districts often have less access — and sometimes little to no access — to arts education. By documenting the Classroom Enrichment lessons currently being used in Blaine County schools and making them available online, The Center aims to support teachers across rural Idaho who might not otherwise have access to new approaches for learning and teaching core curriculum.
Specifically, the Center will use the funds awarded by IMLS to create videos of eight of its Classroom Enrichment project lessons and develop instructional materials to accompany each lesson. At the same time, The Center will create an Online Teacher Resource Center to serve as nexus of information on integrating the arts into secondary-level classroom instruction of core subjects.
“IMLS grants are extremely competitive and are only awarded to organizations that are making advances in the field,” said Kristin Poole, Artistic Director at The Center. “We are honored to be among the grantees and are so pleased that the Classroom Enrichment program that has been so successful in teaching core subject matter through the arts to middle and high school students will be extended to other schools and districts in state. Think about all those math and science students who will now be able to grasp complex material through hands-on art projects!”
The mission of IMLS is to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS’ primary goals are to promote literacy and lifelong learning; build the capacity of museums and libraries to improve the well-being of their communities; increase public access to ideas and information; and support the excellence of libraries and museums nationwide.