Cynthia de Seife, an adjunct education instructor at Kishwaukee College, has created a unique after school arts program at Clinton-Rosette Middle School (CRMS) in DeKalb: ArtSmarts. The emphasis of the program is art, but the long-term effects are much more academic. “Arts education has been shown to improve overall academic performance,” de Seife explained.
Students in the ArtSmarts program at Clinton-Rosette Middle School in DeKalb work on creating paper puppets. Cynthia de Seife, an adjunct education instructor at Kishwaukee College, developed ArtSmarts to offer a unique experience in the arts to middle-schoolers that can impact academic achievement.
De Seife has an M.A. from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA in Integrated Arts in Education, so she definitely knows a thing or two about the importance of the arts and academic performance. “ArtSmarts is really about problem-solving,” she said. “I pose a “problem” and the students have to figure out how to solve it. They don’t need high level art skills, just some basic skills and an interest in learning. We use a variety of methods – art, drama, movement. The goal is to involve students in a wide range of critical thinking and creative problem solving activities. It is hard work for the students, but when the focus is on an artistic endeavor, it feels like fun.”
De Seife began ArtSmarts at CRMS in Spring 2014. Although she enjoys teaching future educators in her classes at Kishwaukee College, she also realized she needed to keep current by working with school-age students in the classroom. She added, “There are entirely different dynamics teaching younger students. And it is very useful to my college teaching to have access to the public schools. Going to CRMS once a week helps me to stay current with what’s going on in the schools and with the teaching process for school aged students. And I just really am passionate about bringing the Arts to kids.”
The ArtSmarts program at CRMS was so successful last spring that de Seife decided to continue the program this year and incorporate it into an Honors section for her Kishwaukee College students. When she saw the announcement for the Harvard Graduate School of Education Institute for Arts and Passion Driven Learning, she knew it was a perfect fit with the programming she was developing.
The Kishwaukee College Foundation provided her the financial resources to attend the workshop through its departmental grant program. “I knew that what I gained from this workshop, I could use in my classes at Kishwaukee, and I came back energized to add the Honors component to the education curriculum. The students I teach are the main beneficiaries of my time at Harvard this summer. “
The Harvard workshop was offered through the University’s Graduate School of Education and was titled Arts and Passion-Driven Learning. “I learned so much in the few days I was there,” de Seife stated. “The Institute was begun as a collaboration between Steve Seidal at Harvard and Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project which promotes peace and cultural understanding through music. Silk Road performed the first evening. It was amazing!”
Many of the workshops at Harvard were led by Silk Road Project musicians and de Seife found herself in sessions like Percussive Poetry, Dance, and a demonstration of the Value of Arts Education. She is incorporating everything she learned at Harvard into her classes at Kishwaukee and at her new ArtSmarts class at CRMS.
Marshal Hayes, Director of Foundation Development at Kishwaukee College, was happy to approve funding for the Harvard Institute. He said, “Kishwaukee College Foundation is thrilled at the opportunity to support a project that expands the reach and impact of our Honors Students Program out into the community! The ArtSmarts after school project will bring innovative, original programming to middle school students in DeKalb while simultaneously providing a great learning experience for Education Department Honors students. It’s a win-win situation that fits perfectly with the mission of the College and our commitment to the district we serve.”
Next Spring, de Seife’s Kishwaukee College education students who enroll in the Honors Program will be attending her ArtSmarts class at CRMS to gain first hand knowledge and experience on incorporating the arts in education.
“Engaging young folks in arts-based activities encourages deeper thinking, creativity, and self expression, “ she stated. “I am grateful to the Foundation for funding my participation in the Harvard Institute for Arts and Passion-Driven Learning. It gave me new and creative ways to offer the value of arts education to young people and to the future educators who are in my classes at Kishwaukee College.”
For more information on ArtSmarts, contact Cynthia de Seife at cynthia.deseife@kishwaukeecollege.edu.
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