First Place - $5,000 ($2,500 to the teachers and $2,500 to their school to continue their programs.)

Mark Lago, Grade 5 Elementary Teacher
Carrie Lautenschlager, Writing Teacher
Clinton Elementary School
Lincoln, Nebraska

"Hello, my name is Georgia O'Keeffe."
"Ola, I'm Maria Montoya Martinez."
"I, Jacob Lawrence, was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey."

These are some statements you might hear if you walked into Mark's room at Clinton Elementary School as his students rehearse for the upcoming Wax Museum.  The Wax Museum is one of the many examples of his collaboration with Carrie.  This collaboration has helped the students master district objects by researching the lives of artists and writing biographies while pretending to be the artists.

Mark's students perform their Wax Museum at the annual Clinton Art Night where they raise money through audience participation.  The Wax Museum continues to make more money every year.  The students are amazed that their work is valued enough that people will pay to see it.  This money allows the students to take trips to art museums where they can witness first hand the masterpieces of those that they have studied and imitated.

Clinton Elementary School has a very varied school population.  Many students are recent refugees who have come to Nebraska from countries of war and unspeakable poverty.  Other students who have never been outside their neighborhood and where traditional academic learning is difficult have been able to expand their world via the study of the arts.  Many of Mark and Carrie's students arrive at school with both a receptive and expressive language deficit.

In Mark's Wax Museum program the students are asked to:
 Select an artist they wish to research.
 Read a biography about the artist.
 Research the artist's life using multiple resources.
 Write a biography of the artist.
 Write the biography as a script for the Wax Museum.
 Memorize their script.
 Locate and create costumes, props, and artwork for their presentation.
 Present their script before an audience of both peers and adults.

Students realized that only their best work would be worth sharing with the community.  They have learned that it isn't always "what's in it for me?"  They have learned to appreciate other people's work and presentations.  As they studied the lives of these artists, they also discovered that everyone faces obstacles and it is up to them to decide how they will allow these obstacles affect their lives.

The meaning of the writing process became very important.  Students wanted to revise their writing to make their product state what they really meant.  Word choice became important as well.  The students began to see writing as a way to communicate with the world other than something they just had to do at school.

(Note:  Mark will also attend the Moss Foundation's Creative Mind Conference, November 1 -3 at the Elston Conference Center, Sweet Briar, Virginia.  He will be presenting information on this winning program.)

Second Place - $3,000 ($1,500 to the teacher and $1,500 to the school for the continuation of her program.)

Joanne Frimel - Art Specialist
Spring Branch High School of Choice
Houston, Texas 

Ms. Frimal is an art educator hired to integrate the arts into Spring Branch High School's curriculum in order to pull the disciplines together around common themes that help special needs children succeed in school.  She works with other teachers, allowing the collaboration on projects that result in tangible products that are fascinating hybrids of what was once the stuff traditional classroom disciplines, and art!

Spring Branch school, designed for at-risk children, was birthed from a vision to establish the best possible environment, instruction and curriculum for learning.  Thematic instruction with art across the curriculum is an integral part of the success formula, so an art specialist is needed.

The School of Choice serves an average of 250 students.  These are students who have experienced academic failure, are over-aged for their grade levels and are at-risk of dropping out of high school.  They are looking for opportunities to succeed and to earn a high school diploma.  The majority of students are Hispanic intermixed with African American, Caucasian, Asian, Russian and Italian.  The School of Choice SPED/LD students are mainstreamed and they have Individual Educational Plans, Goals and Objectives.  There is also a Life Skills class of 21 and a group of 40 recent immigrant high school students who do not speak any English.

Over the years, SOC teachers have developed a respect for the student's individual learning styles based on research, staff development, and application.  This is why SOC has merged traditional classes with the visual arts as well as other strategies.  The following art strands are integrated into math, science, language arts, social studies and other subjects at the SOC:

Perception - Visual solutions depend upon elaborating on direct observation, experience and imagination.
Creative Expression - Using ideas, fostering creative thinking, developing a disciplined effort and problem solving skills.
Historical and Cultural Heritage - By analyzing artistic styles and historical periods students develop respect for the traditions and contribution of diverse cultures.
Critical Evaluation - Students form conclusions about formal qualities, historical and cultural contexts, intents and meanings.

The above strands or essential knowledge and skills, when studied and compared to each set of core subjects, can be discovered as beautifully aligned and in common, making integration possible through creative thinking, collaboration and lesson planning.

THINK ABOUT  & DISCOVER COMMONALITIES:  (A sample of SOC curriculum)
Algebra and Geometry

· Symbolic reasoning plays a critical role in algebra.  Symbols provide powerful ways to represent mathematical situations.  Artists work with symbolic imagery and students can translate inventive imagery into helping them understand how to solve equations.
· Linear functions, parameters - artists' work within boundaries and with linear thought patterns to build works of art in a series of stages through to completion.
· Measurement, functions and equations and their relationships are central to geometry.  Useful application in graphic and architectural design. 
· Geometric curves and figures help to "illustrate" algebra.
· Geometry's patterns make generalizations about geometric proportion, polygons, rations, solid figures - the language and application of art.
· Find areas, perimeter, and volume in problem situations.  Artists solve visual problems to create pleasing compositions, communicate ideas and to express feelings.

Each of the core subjects of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills can show the value of the collaboration of the arts in teaching and learning.

(Note: Ms. Frimel and Dolly O'Day, (a math teacher from SOC) will be presenting a program at the 6th Annual Creative Mind Conference of the Moss Foundation, November 1- 3 at Sweet Briar, Virginia. )

Third Place - $2,000 ($1,000 to the teacher and $1,000 to the school for the continuation of her program.

Karen Rohrbacher - CBE Teacher
Gorham High School
Gorham, Maine

Gorham, a suburb of Portland, has the luxury of several good museums to help bring diversity to the community.  Seventy-five percent of last year's graduating seniors of Gorham High School are continuing their education with goals in mind.  It is the desire of Gorham to have all their students prepared for future placement in employment and the community as contributing citizens.

Ms. Rohrbacher is the Community Based Education teacher and has an average of eight to ten severely disabled students each year.  For the past three years, she has collaborated with Cynthia Smith, the school's art department chair, on art activities as they related to the CBE students.  Karen's enthusiasm and interest in art gave her successful insights into modifications, which enable her students to participate successfully in the mainstream.  She added further art collaboration through the Evening for Educators Program at the Portland Museum of Art.

The introduction of museum trips and related classroom projects resulted in increased awareness of the learning experience:  who makes art, how do they make it, decision making (of colors, shapes, lines, form), making art judgments, and the simple appreciation of art. Hands-on activities are provided for a final product of something the students can see and touch.  Karen is talented in bringing other necessary learning skills into her art activities for the students such as science, language arts, and abilities to express their thoughts and ideas. 

(Note:  Please go to "lesson plans" to view one of Karen's art activities.  Karen will also attend the Moss Foundation's Creative Mind Conference, November 1 -3 at the Elston Conference Center, Sweet Briar, Virginia.  She will have time to talk about her winning program.)