Any Given Child Indy provided an invaluable opportunity to advance my understanding and implementation of arts integration by sending me to the Kennedy Center’s Annual Arts Integration Conference. The resources provided throughout the experience included tools and strategies to engage students, their families, and the community in a rounded arts and academic curriculum. I learned from experts in education and networked with peers from across the country, establishing foundations for instruction with clear understanding of arts integration defined.

Most impactful to my own experience is the understanding that arts integration is a strategy for teaching which makes education more equitable for all students. We serve a diverse student population, each child having a unique set of needs. With arts integration practices in place in the classroom, students will learn by engaging in creative processes. They will develop skills in communication through varying aptitudes and reflect meaningfully on content and learning processes. Arts integration serves as an avenue to incorporating necessary 21st century skills in classroom instruction.

Among the many strategies shared during the conference, we closed by creating 6 Word Stories about our experiences. My acquired understanding of arts integration and its value to our students is as follows.

Meaningful content + enriching experiences = LIFELONG LEARNERS