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Arts Education

Arts Education
ASB is committed to a rich and comprehensive arts education.  Students in all grades receive an arts curriculum that includes music, drama, and visual art.  Additionally, students can participate in Band, Choir, and Theatre Ensemble.  Research has shown that arts improve skills in math and reading, and also promotes creativity, social development, and self-worth. According to a study conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts students who are exposed to an arts curriculum are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance. 

 

 Art Teachers

Nina Crampton, Art Teacher 

Nina joined the ASB faculty in 2021 as Art Teacher to 3rd through 8th grade. A lifelong artist and educator, Nina gained her Fine Arts degree and Postgraduate Certificate of Education in the UK. Since moving to America in 2002, Nina has taught Art to students of all ages in the greater Seattle area and also worked as scenic painter for The Pacific Northwest Ballet. A passionate Mountaineer and outdoor adventurer, Nina frequently uses nature as inspiration for student projects, bringing environmental and climatic awareness to the art room as well as communication and focus. A practicing artist, Nina strongly believes that all can thrive artistically and loves the enriching environment at ASB.

Julie Olsen, Drama Teacher (Image# Olsen)

Julie has led the Drama program at ASB since 2015 and speaks of our students as “just remarkable.”  She has an MFA from the University of Washington School of Drama’s Professional Actor Training program and is also a graduate of Oberlin College and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.   An Executive Board member of the Washington State Educational Theatre Association, Ms. Olsen chairs the Washington State Junior Thespian Conference.  She has taught performance skills in a wide variety of settings, including NCAS skills-based workshops at Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu and at the Washington State Thespian Festival. Most recently, Ms. Olsen’s theatre curriculum was selected by the National Educational Theatre Association for its “high-quality examples of skill in setting instructional objectives, designing coherent instruction, and designing student assessment.”  Her work is included in the National Educational Theatre Associations’ library of professional development resources, which illustrates best practice for theatre educators.

Matt Turner, Music Teacher & Choir Director (Image# Turner)

Matt has been teaching music for over 20 years and has been at ASB since 2016.   He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and a Master of Teaching degree from Seattle Pacific University.  Matt brings an enthusiasm for creating and performing through singing, movement response, playing instruments, and connecting music to its cultural and historical heritages.  In addition to teaching music classes, Matt directs the ASB choir, serves as music director of the annual school musical, and plays piano for liturgical services during the school year.  He is a published composer of choral and instrumental music.  Matt is a firm believer that every student has a unique story to tell through creative exploration and artistic expression.

Bryan Van Pelt, Music Teacher & Band Director (Image# Van Pelt)

Bryan has degrees in Jazz Studies and Music Education from the University of Washington and has been at ASB since 2015.   His main teaching philosophy is simply put as "person first, student second".  He is dedicated to forming honest and respectful relationships with the students on a personal and human level first.  If these bonds are not formed, then the learning process will not flourish.  Mr. Van Pelt truly sees the ASB students as people with feelings, emotions, stories, and backgrounds.  One of his favorite accomplishments is holding the 4th grade "Music Informance" for families.  This event allows 4th grade parents and family members to attend a music class and watch their child learn in real time.  Families are always blown away by the countless skills their child demonstrates in a typical music class.

Drama is a vital part of our arts curriculum and is offered to all students from Pre-K through 8th grade.  Our goal is to give students a positive experience while building self confidence and craftsmanship for life-long learning.  Drama engages the imagination, develops conceptual, kinesthetic, emotional and social skills, and allows students to discover their own creative potential.  By utilizing the National Core Arts Standards as the basis for our Drama curriculum at ASB, we ensure that students are receiving the highest quality standards based arts education we can offer.

 

Drama has a dedicated space housed in the Performing Arts Center on campus.  It offers students learning stations for creative play, space for rehearsal and small performances, and new and expanded instructional space for intermediate and middle school drama activities.  Students in Pre-K through 5th grade have Drama class once each week. Middle school students attend Drama classes during one trimester as part of their middle school arts rotation.  Middle School students also have the opportunity to participate in two fully staged productions each school year as the ASB Theatre Ensemble and join the ASB Junior Thespians. 

 

Goals

  • Enables students to discover their creative abilities.
  • Inspires students to strive for excellence.
  • Exposes students to a variety of artistic mediums that challenge them to discover new ideas and perspectives.
  • Enhances other areas of learning.
  • Enriches creativity and artistic collaboration.

Curriculum

Discovery with Drama: Grades PK-2

Stories allow students to use their imagination while teaching children about our world, its people, cultures, and traditions. Stories in Drama inspire creative play and motivate students to explore ethical, social, and community issues.  Students love to bring stories to life by recreating characters and favorite moments, so we utilize process drama, story drama, and creative play to teach performance skills that foster both creativity and self-awareness.

Explorations through Drama: Grades 3-5

Drama uses a variety of artistic skills in the creative process including:  mime, improvisation, voice, movement, character development, directing and performance. These skills are learned and developed in a variety of ways including games, activities and various performances. With its emphasis on 21st century learning skills, Drama is integrated into school-wide learning goals and expectations: Reader’s Theatre and Story Structure (3rd grade), Collaborating to Create Imaginary Worlds (4th grade), and Exploring Social Justice Issues through Drama (5th grade).

Theatre Arts: Grades 6-8

Middle school students focus on the theatrical process of taking an idea, character and/or story, and bringing it to life on stage using a variety of techniques and methods. We continually build on our performance skills working on various activities and projects throughout the trimester:  Middle School Theatre Arts courses, in compliance with National Core Arts Standards, are designed to give students a secure understanding of fundamental theatre concepts, skills, and vocabulary and multiple opportunities to apply theatre skills and techniques to performance. To accomplish this, students will engage in a learning process that emphasizes the following 21st Century Learning Skills: collaboration, communication, and growth mind-set. By collaborating to hypothesize, examine, analyze and connect ideas and their applications to performance processes, students will establish common goals and work together to achieve them.

Theatre process
Students have the opportunity to explore their own experiences and create imagined solutions to real-life problems.
Theatre skills
Students gain tools to meaningfully explore and effectively share our ideas with others.
Professional Ethics
Students learn skills that are necessary for creating a safe and nurturing artistic environment.
 
6th Grade
Students take a journey into the origins of western theatre by performing in a Greek Drama Festival each year.  We explore how theatre artists adapt stories into dramatic presentations.  By immersing ourselves in the world of Greek theatre, in which theatre was both sacred ritual and political forum, we’ll expand our understanding of theatre’s ability to communicate and transform.   In order to inhabit the worlds of our Greek plays, we will explore how actors use carefully chosen physical, vocal, and psychological choices to communicate character.
 
7th Grade
Students discover the world of William Shakespeare by studying his life, colorful characters and masterful plays. They will also experience Viewpoints training, an actor training technique that builds ensemble, improves listening skills and develops authentic responses.  After acquainting ourselves with Shakespeare’s stories, we will use a variety of discussion formats to examine the structure and components of Shakespeare’s language. We will use context and inference to decode verse, examine how meaning is embedded in meter, interpret and use Elizabethan stage directions, explore Elizabethan movement and manners, and discover how punctuation and structure reveal the logic in Shakespeare’s speeches. The goal of 7th grade drama is to ensure fluency in reading and understanding Shakespeare’s language.
 
8th Grade
In 8th Grade Drama, students work collaboratively to create Drama Capstone Projects. Using strengths and interests as a basis for generating both choice and material, students examine how they can use drama knowledge and skills to create drama products. The goal of our work is twofold:  to reflect on and celebrate the culmination of Drama studies at ASB and to empower students for success in high school by equipping them to use the components of the creative process to generate and manage long range projects.
 

About the National Core Arts Standards:

The National Core Arts Standards emphasize the process-oriented nature of the arts and arts learning that guide the continuous and systematic operations of instructional improvement by:

  • Defining “artistic literacy” through a set of overarching philosophical foundations and lifelong goals that clarify long term expectations for arts learning.
  • Placing Artistic Process and Anchor Standards in the forefront of the work
  • Identifying Creative Practices as the bridge for the application of the Artistic Processes across all learning.
  • Specifying “Enduring Understandings” and “Essential Questions” that provide conceptual through-lines and articulate value and meaning within and across arts disciplines.
  • Providing Model Cornerstone Assessments of Student Learning aligned to Artistic Processes.

NCAS Artistic Process:

  1. Create: Conceive and Develop new artistic ideas and work
  2. Perform: Realize artistic ideas and work through interpretation and presentation
  3. Respond: Understand and evaluate how the arts convey meaning.
  4. Connect: Relate artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context
For information about the National Core Arts Standards, please go to:  http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/
The music program is an integral part of Assumption-St. Bridget School and provides a solid foundation in music education.  Students are able to demonstrate understanding of the elements of music, understand and use musical vocabulary, acquire musical skills, create and perform music, and make connections to other arts. Students have music classes twice per week in all grades.
 
In grades 1st through 3rd, students participate in the annual Christmas concert.  Grades 4th & 5th perform during open houses for families and friends. Middle school students study music master classes that include music from around the world, exploring the soundtrack to life, and popular music of our time.  All students participate in music during monthly masses.
 
To learn more about our afterschool Performing Arts opportunities which include three school bands, choir, and Theatre Ensemble please click HERE.
In grades 1st-5th art is taught in the class by homeroom teachers, and parent volunteers through the Art Parents program.  Funded by the Parent Board, Art Parents exposes students to the work of artists, and gives them hands on experiences with a variety of media.
 
Middle-school students have one trimester of art as part of their Arts Education curriculum. Students use basic and advanced art materials, develop their skills and techniques for creating quality work, learn central principals and elements of art, and develop their own aesthetic awareness and appreciation.
 
Art Museums & Links
 
Local Art Museums
Seattle Art Museum www.seattleartmuseum.org
The Frye Museum www.fryemuseum.org
Henry Art Gallery www.henryart.org
Bellevue Arts Museum www.bellevueart.org
Tacoma Art Museum www.tacomaartmuseum.org
Museum of Glass, Tacoma www.museumofglass.org
Museum of Northwest Art, La Connor www.museumofnwart.org
National Art Museums
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York www.metmuseum.org
Museum of Modern Art, New York www.moma.org
The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC www.nga.gov
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC www.nmai.si.edu
The Smithsonian, Washington DC www.smithsonian.org
The Art Institute of Chicago www.artic.edu
Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis www.walkerart.org
The Getty Museum, Los Angeles www.getty.edu/museum
Los Angeles County Museum of Art www.lacma.org
International Art Museums
The Louvre, Paris www.louvre.org
The Tate Museums – Tate Britain and Modern, in London & other UK cities www.tate.org.uk
The Guggenheim Museums – New York, Bilbao, Venice www.guggenheim.org
The Museum of Fine Arts Berne, Switzerland www.museen-bern.ch