Arts Commons expands partnership with innovative school program

Arts Commons is only in the early stages of a pilot project with the Calgary Board of Education's Campus Calgary/Open Minds program, but things are going so well it has decided to expand its involvement in the program for the 2015-16 season.

Campus Calgary/Open Minds is an innovative curriculum-based program that moves the classroom into the community for an entire week.

Arts Commons liked that idea, so it decided to host six teachers for six weeksto see how the performing arts centrecould help kids with their education.

"We use the arts, whether it's acting or dancing or movement or music in a way to explore things like math, science, English language arts, phys-ed," Arts Commons programming associate John Anderson said. "It's interdisciplinary learning."

The teachers who come to Arts Commons work with experts there tocustom-design lessons that will meet their needs.

21st century learning

Recently, grade four students from the HamptonsSchool spent aweekexploring how stories change when the medium changes. One of their teachers was artist Mark Ikeda, who was recently honoured with the Enbridge Emerging Artist Award at the Mayor's Lunch for Arts Champions.

"The kids are really warm to the ideas," Ikeda said. "Any chance to have a different stimuli ordifferent ideas thrown at them really works to learn in different ways and I think that's why Campus Calgary is successful."

And that is how the Campus Calgary/Open Minds program isaddressingthe needs of 21st century learning.

"The old model is you sit in a desk in a row and the teacher has the information," Anderson said."Teaching is changing. Learning is changing. It's more student-directed. It's inquiry-based. We see really good results with it."

Arts Commons is the 11thsite to join the Campus Calgary/Open Minds program. The others are the Calgary Zoo, Calgary Municipal Buildings, Stampede Park, Cardel Place, Aero Space Museum, Cross Conservation Area, University of Calgary, Telus SPARK, Glenbow Museum, and the Calgary Board of Education Centre.