Campaign 2005

Magnet Arts Elementary School, shared with Jefferson Middle School

The Westmoreland Arts Technology Studio (WATS) would provide one location for piano lessons, theater, visual arts, video production, digital audio recording and composing. This would allow "one-stop shopping" as it were for enrichment and after-school activities, including sports. This specific proposed project would provide the equipment needed to record audio CDs, and would be used not just during the schoolday, but also for extracurricular, after-school and special activities. The WATS would charge user fees for extracurricular programs to help fund the studio.

Why is this project important?

Our community is one of the most racially and socio-economically diverse in the Eugene-Springfield area. We have many families that struggle to obtain the desired enrichment goals for their children. Typically this is accomplished by using the services of several different agencies. However, the logistics of transporting students from school to various activities creates time and financial pressures on many families. Single parent families and families that lack adequate financial resources struggle the most. Since Magnet Arts is a Title I school, providing a wide variety of enrichment activities in one secure location would impart an important sense of security to these parents and enable these students to participate in enrichment activities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Purchase of the audio recording equipment proposed in this project would provide state-of-the art experiences to enrich and build on existing music skills.

Who and how many will be served?

The eighth-grade music technology class at Jefferson will be using the audio recording equipment daily. Two additional middle school classes and as many as three elementary school classes would be offered during the day, reaching an additional 200-250 students during the school day. The recording studio would also be used daily by the Jefferson News for its video/audio component, and the recording equipment would also be used to record special events like music concerts. In addition, the recording equipment could be used as part of the after school program.

How will you evaluate the success of this project?

We are committed to integrity--personal, professional, and financial. Therefore, constant oversight, monitoring, and accountability take place. We will complete professional programmatic evaluations involving mostly formative analysis and through feedback provided by our students and the community. We will also seek and receive feedback from our fellow teachers, supervisors anddistrict administration.

Does this proposal build upon existing programs at your school?

The WATS partnership will help replace some of the arts opportunities that have been cut from Jefferson Middle School and Magnet Arts Elementary School programs. The replacement courses will be of a higher quality because of the use of the latest technologies. We will teach basic music theory, group piano lessons, song composition, ear training, rhythm studies, movie making, video production, public speaking. It also builds on the Jefferson News program and the Technology Department at Jefferson. Piano keyboards have already been purchased with a previous grant and fourth graders will be learning piano later this year. Purchase of the audio recording equipment will allow students to record their progress, as well as the opportunity to record other musical talents. Energizing the arts with contemporary technology is particularly important to the Magnet Arts philosophy.

How will the funds be used?

To purchase everything needed to establish a mobile CD recording studio.