This is the generic version of the PTA presentation for schools that participate in Fillmore Arts Center, Washington, DC. It tells about the Fillmore Arts Center and the Friend of Fillmore non-profit.

1. Portraits from 2011 Spring Arts Show
AND
Ceramics by
Stoddert
students, 2011

2. Presentation Outline
• The PAST
• The PRESENT
– Who
– How
– What
– Why
• The FUTURE Band practice at Garrison, 2011

3. The PAST
A brief history lesson:
“The past is never • In the 1970s, an engaged and active group of DCPS parents
dead. It’s not saw a dilution of arts instruction due to small school sizes
even past.” and the inability to justify dedicated arts teachers.
Faulkner • Fearing a wholesale loss of arts instruction for their children,
they decided to THINK DIFFERENTLY!
• Therefore, they pooled their individual schools’ resources to
develop one specialized center for arts teaching that children
from all the participating schools could benefit from.
• This aggregation of funds allowed for more robust, multi-
disciplinary instruction than could happen if each school went
it alone!
• Hence, Fillmore Arts Center was born!

4. The PRESENT
What You Get for Your Arts Budget at Fillmore:
“With the past, I • Multiple teachers who are practicing artists and
have nothing to specialists in their particular discipline: dance, music,
do; nor with the ceramics, painting, drawing, digital arts, drama, and
future. I live creative writing.
now.” • Facilities designed for use as art spaces: dance floors,
Emerson kilns, a black box theatre, digital arts lab, and more.
• Opportunities for your children to perform publicly and
display their work around the city
• Exposure to and instruction from visiting artists
• Access to arts enrichment experiences and field trips
• Planning time allocated to regular classroom teachers
while their students attend arts classes

5. The (alternative) PRESENT
What You Could Get For Your Arts Budget at
“With the past, I
Your Participating School:
have nothing to
do; nor with the
• One part-time Art teacher and one part-time Music teacher
future. I live
now.” • Limited supplies and no dedicated space
Emerson
Spring Dance
Performance,
2011

6. The WHO
“All the world’s a
• The Players
stage, and all the – Fillmore Arts Center
men and women – Friends of Fillmore
merely players.”
Shakespeare – Your Home School
– DCPS
Shakespeare
Performance by
Hyde & Key
students, 2011

7. Fillmore Arts Center
Not your average DC public school:
“All the world’s a • Founded in 1974
stage, and all the • Has two locations, Fillmore East and Fillmore West, which
men and women serve over 3,000 students per year
merely players.” • Provides dedicated arts instruction centers with specialized
teachers and facilities
Shakespeare
• Teaches a range of arts: dance, drama, music, visual and
digital arts
• Has won multiple awards over the years and is considered a
nationally recognized innovator in arts education
• Hosts artists-in-residence, who share their knowledge and
techniques in the arts with our children
• Acts as a community cultural anchor through after-school
and summer camp programs, individual instruction in musical
instruments, and community performances and events

8. Friends of Fillmore (FOF)
• FOF is a non-profit organization that functions like
“All the world’s a Fillmore’s PTA
• Throughout the school year, FOF works to raise money
stage, and all the to support the activities of Fillmore Arts Center
men and women • FOF fundraising dollars and contributions go to pay for:
merely players.” – ALL art supplies used throughout the school year
Shakespeare and instruments for the classrooms
– Artist-in-Residence grants
– After-school enrichment programs and summer
camp scholarships
• FOF funds and organizes hospitality for Fillmore’s “Be
an Artist” night, open houses, and performance events
• For information on the Friends of Fillmore go to
www.friendsoffillmore.org

9. Friends of Fillmore (FOF)
Your support makes everything possible, so
“All the world’s a get involved!
stage, and all the • STAY IN TOUCH: go to the Friends website and add your
email to our mailing list
men and women • JOIN the Friends of Fillmore board and use your time and
merely players.” talent for a great cause (We look to have at least 2 reps from
Shakespeare each school every year!)
• PROMOTE Fillmore’s activities within your school and
amongst your wider community
• ATTEND Fillmore events
• DONATE funds to the Friends of Fillmore
• VOLUNTEER in the Fillmore Arts Center office or
classrooms
• ADVOCATE for Fillmore
• FIND a community sponsor to host an activity that supports
Fillmore (dining nights or something else?)

10. “Bit by bit… putting
it together” The HOW
Sondheim • Serves as a shared
resource for participating
• Provides busing schools, providing multi-
so children and disciplinary arts education on
teachers can move campus at the participating
THE RESULT: between campuses school or on-site at Fillmore
• Provides space,
Because DCPS maintenance, and
provides busing and some additional
salaries
additional funding and
FOF provides art
supplies and additional
financial support, the • Provides school
Fillmore program reps to attend the
Friends of Fillmore
provides more than Meetings
double the arts • Contributes a per
education resources student fee (part of its
• Serves as Fillmore’s “PTA” arts budget) to the
that a Participating • Conducts fundraising on behalf of Fillmore Arts Center Fillmore program
School could fund by • Raised funds provide art supplies and instruments,
itself!! enrichment content like artists in residence and field
trips, and after-school & summer camp scholarships

11. The WHAT
DO YOU HOPE FOR YOUR CHILDREN TO BE…
“Do not train children to • Civic-minded people who engage in their local communities?
learning by force and
harshness, but direct them • Creative problem-solvers who employ critical thinking skills
to it by what amuses their to generate multiple solutions?
minds, so that you may be • Flexible thinkers who can work across disciplines, appreciate
better able to discover with diversity, and thrive in cooperative, collaborative settings?
accuracy the peculiar bent
of the genius of each.”
• High-achieving and actively involved students who work
Plato responsibly and have confidence and self-esteem?
• Expressive communicators who read and write more AND
more skillfully?
• Strong observers who can visualize abstract concepts?
• Empathetic, considerate people who value others and
themselves and can tolerate divergent viewpoints?
• Creators of beauty and joy who have less stress and are more
physically coordinated?
Then, have them learn and participate in the arts!

12. The WHY
THE RESEARCH IS IN…
“Give the pupils something • Find details on all these claims in this report:
to do, not something to Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievemen
learn; and the doing is of (2006) published by the Arts Education Partnership
such a nature as to • You can find a link to the report on the FOF site at
demand thinking; learning www.friendsoffillmore.org/documents/
naturally results.”
EXAMPLES FROM THE STUDIES
John Dewey
• …children, ages 9 and 10, were trained to look closely at works of art and
reason about what they saw. The results showed that children’s ability to draw
inferences about artwork transferred to their reasoning about images in
science. In both cases, the critical skill is that of looking closely and reasoning
about what is seen.
• As a “warm-up” writing exercise, second and third grade students used poetry,
games, movement and improvisation to act out their story ideas, which
contributed to their improved performance.
• [teens in] dance classes twice weekly for 10 weeks, … reported significant gains
in confidence, tolerance and persistence related to the dance experience.
• An analysis conducted of multiple studies confirms the finding that students
who take music classes in high school are more likely to score higher on
standardized mathematics tests such as the SAT.

13. “The best thing about the
future is that it comes only
one day at a time.”
Lincoln
The FUTURE
• Sense-making
• Design
Mindset
• Novel &
Adaptive
Thinking
• Social
Intelligence
• Virtual
Collaboration
Sound like things
you get from
working with
the arts?
From Report by The Institute for the Future (IFTF), Summer 2011

14. CONTACTS
• Contact Fillmore’s Principal, Katherine Latterner
if you:
– want to address child-specific or classroom-specific
Fillmore issues; even better, contact your child’s
FILLMORE teacher(s) directly
– Email: katherine.latterner@dc.gov
– Phone: 202-729-3795 (direct); 202-729-3794 (office)
• Contact your FOF School Rep who serves on
the FOF Board, if you want to share ideas or
concerns related to your home school.
• Contact the FOF Board Chair, if you want to join
the FOF Board or have suggestions for how we
can improve.
– Email: FACBoardChair@gmail.com