Students visualize new concepts thanks to partnership with Center for the Arts
Art modules provided by the Center for the Arts of Manassas through a new partnership with the PWCS Science Department have definitely helped Lisa Shields’ class get a grasp on the topic of oceanography. After watching their eyes light up and their hands shoot into the air as their teacher fires off questions, the limits to their ocean-related knowledge seem boundless. These fifth-grade students at West Gate Elementary School can easily tell you that about 70-75% of the world is made up of water and that the main mineral found in the ocean is salt. And as one student tells it, the time the class spends with the Arts on the Go modules is what helps make all of this learning possible.
The interactive modules, which can be likened to traveling activity centers, offer a variety of interactive games and puzzles that correlate to Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) for science. For example, one piece helps students learn about how animals survive in rough terrain while another is a board game that helps students investigate ocean elevations.
Jennifer, a fifth-grader from Shields’ class, shares that playing the games helps make the otherwise-dull subject matter easier to absorb – which helps her excel at end-of-year test time. “It’s really cool,” says Jennifer as she rolls the dice to take her turn at the oceanography board game. “I like it because it helps us learn and remember stuff so we do better on the SOLs.”
West Gate Elementary School in Manassas served as the pilot school for the Arts on the Go program, and houses the modules when they are not on loan to other schools. Two modules, one focusing on oceans with the other highlighting animal kingdoms, are already circulating through selected County elementary schools. The partnership between the Center for the Arts and the PWCS Science Department paves the way for additional schools to receive Arts on the Go modules.
“Arts on the Go is a perfect illustration of the important relationship between the arts and 
education,” says Sally Lay, executive director of the Center for the Arts. “Through beautiful imagery, tactile interaction, and games that challenge the imagination, this important project lifts science out of the textbook and places it in the hands and minds of the children.”
School Board Vice-Chairman Betty D. Covington ( Dumfries) and School Board Member Don Richardson ( Gainesville) were both in attendance at a partnership signing ceremony on March 16, along with Superintendent of Schools Steven L. Walts and Associate Superintendent for Area I Alison Nourse-Miller. Other PWCS staff included Director of Student Learning and Professional Development Lisa Reinshuttle, Supervisor of Art Fred Milbert, and Sharon Henry, Administrative Coordinator for Partnership Prince William.
3/24/06
