Elementary Arts Program – Mid Year Report



Elementary Arts Program – Mid Year Report

Due to Vicki Breen, Public Education Department, February 24, 25 2011

(will be turned in during FAEA Meeting in Santa Fe)

District: Hobbs Municipal Schools Superintendent: TJ Parks

OR School: 12 Elementary Schools

OR Administrator: Debbie Cooper

Current Program Manager: Tyson Ledgerwood

Current Program Manager e-mail and fax and phone: ledgerwoodt@, 575-433-0247 Phone, FAX 575-433-0140

We have come through a pretty tough year financially; however, we have kept our programming in tact and expanded our theatre and dance residency programs. We also have some plans for our first Fine Arts Academy at Will Rogers Elementary and a brand new residency program to service the 6th Grade once they move up into the junior high schools next year. We have a lot of data from our programs already because we have been busy since the first of the year. Although we still have many programs left to plan, we have enough data to get a clear direction for next year.

1. What tools are you using to measure student growth and achievement?

Visual Art; Music; Dance; Theatre; Other Programs:

• In Visual Art we are still developing our e-portfolio concept for group and individual assessment in visual art. We also have two classes using Google sites to create student web pages to put their digital pictures of their art work and catalog their growth from year to year.

• Music, Theatre and Dance we are incorporating flip cams to show the rehearsal during the residency week and the performance. This way the parents and teachers can see the growth of skills and technique from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. We know we have had a successful residency week when the performance looks much more polished than the first day.

2. What is working well in your program? List specific activities. What areas of your program need strengthening?

I will list all the areas of our program that we have accomplished so far this year. This section will include the data with comments from teachers, administrators, community members and parents. This will give you a good window into the strengths of each event or program as well as areas for improvement. They are listed by category: Theatre/Dance Residencies, Professional Development, Staff and Programs supported by the FAEA, and Professional Presented Acts.

Theatre and Dance Week Residencies

Missoula Children’s Theatre “Treasure Island”

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Comments Included:

• Sound is a usual problem

• Very Good

• Hard to Hear at Times

• Music a little loud - couldn't hear voices.

• Be more like the novel

• Better Acoustics

• Forget the Lecturing.

• You did great.

• Great Job

• Sound

• Would like to see more of a relationship to the novels

• Spell names correctly

• Contestants who won decorating contest should at least get a T-Shirt, instead of getting to cut in line.

• Students need to speak louder.

• Thank you for providing opportunities for our children!

• Great Job - voices could be louder: very hard to hear and follow along.

• Fantastic!

• I am sorry we had rude watchers!

• Very positive for our children

• Awesome show

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "Treasure Island" link at:

Missoula Children’s Theatre “The Frog Prince”

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Comments Included:

• Wonderful preparation and performance, amazing costuming and support for our students.

• The children are amazing! What they accomplish in a week is awesome! I would like for my little girl to try out next year. She will be in 1st grade (hopefully all the K-1 children receive parts (?) What a wonderful experience for them!

• Excellent preparation by Tyson Ledgerwood, extremely detail oriented. Very professional and creative.

• The Missoula Children's Theatre offers such a wonderful opportunity for the youth of our community. What a wonderful privilege for all who participate!

• Fantastic!

• I believe that it is just fine the way it is. The most important thing is that the students are enjoying themselves.

• Cannot hear all characters and the announcements at the end.

• It is very smooth and enjoyed by all.

• If we find children unmanageable, we should talk to the parents the 1st day, and dismiss the children no later than Wed. There were 2 kids who were un-cooperative much of the time.

• I think it was awesome. I think my daughter would love to try out next year. I just hope all the little kids are guaranteed a part (K-1). They are too young for disappointment. Do the younger children stay until 8 p.m. every night? A more detailed note might have been helpful. I later found out the K-1 kids did receive parts and they left about 5:30. We might have tried out this year had we had that info. Looking forward to next year!

• I want to give credit to Tyson for his time and efforts for putting this together for the students.

• Excellent play

• Build "Shhh" and "Quiet" periodically into the show.

• Always well informed of all the details and what our role is in administration.

• Thanks Maddox

• It was great! How often do they bring in performances?

• I am very pleased with the program. You are able to provide our students with experiences that they otherwise would not have.

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "The Frog Prince" link at:

Missoula Children’s Theatre “Sleeping Beauty”

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Comments Included:

• Great!!

• What a great experience for our children.

• A great afternoon play

• I loved it! The Missoula reps are AMAZING!!

• Loved them.

• Thank you!!

• Great

• The way they get the children to work is incredible.

• They rock! The children love them and they are soooooo in control.

• Wish to see more kids try out. Wish to see more kids try out.

• Advertise to all schools to come and watch.

• A+ for children their age

• Well done. The spotted pup is my Great Grand Daughter.

• Need Microphones on stage for everyone. Couldn't hear the kids, and even some of the jesters. Audience children noise didn't help either.

• More Microphones

• Sound - difficult to hear some actors.

• Should have pressed the costumes.

• Microphones changing so everyone is heard.

• More Microphones

• I think possibly you need a little less time when the students are eating their supper. Maybe a quick video of some sort for them to watch. I know they sat for over an hour in the choir room while make-up repairs were being taken care of. The Missoula duo fielded a zillion questions from them during this time. Many were getting restless. The dynamic duo was great at multitasking and answered each & every one of the questions. :)

• I believe that the entire production was great the way it was presented and the supervision was also great. Good job Tyson.

• Love it.

• Love it!!!

• Cute and Creative.

• This is a great experience for the kids.

• A great program.

• Good job!

• Awesome

• My Children really enjoyed acting in the play.

• The play was wonderful. I really enjoyed working with the kids and helping them backstage.

• I had fun and look forward to helping with this again next year.

• I hope that the Missoula Theater continues for many years to come here in Hobbs.

• I am ALWAYS amazed what they do with the children in such a SHORT time!!! What a wonderful job!!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "Sleeping Beauty" link at:

Maciolek School of Dance Presents “That’s Entertainment”

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Comments Included:

• Wonderful

• Great Job!

• Strongly (Professional, Approachable, Positive Attitude, Detailed Oriented)

• Love it!

• Watson (Needs Improvement)

• The show was wonderful. It is great to see these young kids on stage and having fun! Keep up the great work. Wonderful program.

• Go Forward

• I thought they did a wonderful job!

• Ms. Salb and her staff did an excellent job of recognizing the individual students' strengths and building on them. The students had a great week!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "That’s Entertainment" link at:

Expressions Dance Academy Presents “Dance Around the World”

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Comments Included:

• Excellent learning environment and skills builder for students.

• Fun, learning experience for the students!

• Loved it. Very Educational.

• Great Job! I loved it as well as my child!

• Well Done.

• The program is wonderful!

• Ms. Inman was amazing and did an excellent job!

• Sara Inman and team were awesome!

• Great Job. Liked Hip-Hop the best and the end group song.

• Hope to see more.

• None, perfect organization by Tyson and Sarah.

• Introduce your dance academy. I didn't know who was instructing the kids.

• Primary grades would love working with Sara Inman and dancing!

• It's great!

• It was great.

• More practice, stepping together in rhythm.

• Longer Dances.

• It was a wonderful experience for the students.

• Always a pleasant experience for all involved. Extremely well planned and orchestrated.

• I'd like my Kindergarteners to perform also.

• Great Job!

• More events like this, Great!!!

• Love having it!

• Hope we have more!

There are pictures and videos of the week’s activities and performance that you can view on the "Expressions Dance Academy" link on our Hobbs Municipal Schools Fine Arts Website at:



G-Squared Theatre Residency at Jefferson Elementary “Tales from Mount Olympus”

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Comments Include:

• Loved it.

• They did wonderful, it was great. Would love to watch again.

• Awesome!!

• Very enjoyable and educational

• Wonderful Job

• It's a very good thing.

• Great Job!!

• They are awesome!!!

• Awesome Job

• Great Job

• Love Greg and Greg hope they come back soon.

• Excellent Work.

• More organized.

• Bigger parking area.

• Just fine like it is.

• Everything was excellent.

• Room for audience length.

• More.

• Scheduling of upcoming events at other schools. I know that poor scheduling was an issue that Greg and Greg were facing at their next location.

• I believe it was great.

• The Gregs do an amazing job with the students. The kids are receptive and eager to participate - even those kids who are often hard to reach. In my opinion, this is by far the most amazing educational and motivating opportunity that our students receive. I would love to see the opportunity return next year for our 5th graders. Debbie Cox, LMSW, School Social Worker

• I would like to see some of the theater activities move to the lower grades.

• Awesome Job.

• Need more programs.

• Keep it up; I always enjoyed it when I was still in elementary!

• The children were very comfortable and enthusiastic! When can we see more of this type of episodes?

• Really enjoyed it - was fun.

• Good Job.

• We need more.

• Loved it!

• I really enjoyed it. I believe it really was education. My Child really benefited from it. Thank you for choosing Jefferson Elementary.

• Keep up the good work Tyson. Thank you for taking the time to do this with our students.

• Great job!!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "Tales from Mount Olympus" link at:

G-Squared Theatre Residency at Sanger Elementary “Hamlet”

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Comments Include:

• Great opportunity for our students, just wished it was earlier in the year.

• Excellent

• Really Cute!

• The kids had a good time with no school work this week. I would have liked homework to be on Shakespeare, with research, reading, a copy of the play to read at home!

• I’m very glad the students were able to learn Shakespeare in a fun way. However, I feel there needs to be a way to stream-line this. The entire school was disrupted for an entire week. I am the special ed teacher at Sanger. I was not able to teach my 5th Grade sped students all week, and missed some of the other grades due to the inconvenience of the theater group—using every available space in the building. It will take me 2-4 weeks to get my 5th grades back where they were skill-wise before the week began. Since my services are federally mandated. I was very frustrated by the end of the week knowing the over-all academic effect this week would have on these students.

• I was so happy to see that the kids took their roles so seriously. Really nice job.

• Wonderful.

• I loved the event. There did however, seem to be a lot of down time that could have been used more productively.

• Both very friendly

• They were great with the kids and staff

• Greg and Greg were great guys and great with the students. I would welcome them back at any time.

• Students were engaged throughout week just needed to make sure there was never any down time.

• A little louder

• More academics. A test on Shakespeare and the play.

• We could have planned more art-related activities for the students who had down time during the week. Otherwise, it was a very positive experience for all the students.

• We should have the event again!

• They did a wonderful job in teaching these kids in just only a week. I give them a two thumbs up for their efforts.

• Audience on the sides could not see the “party” scene

• As I stated above, I think that there would have been plenty of time for a few more activities in the room. I found two castle activities on my own that the students completed during the week. I would also have been beneficial to have a meeting earlier so that better arrangements could have been made for the gym and the other work areas.

• Performance was nice. Question period too long.

• The other students were very well behaved for a long show…most likely due to the great entertainment.

• I believe my students really enjoyed participating in the play and learning the different aspects of theatre.

• It was a great opportunity to have our kids learn about theater and even though it was a week long commitment, it sparked their interest and allowed them t be a part of something rather than just read about it.

• Great.

• How much did this cost? Is it integrated into Core Knowledge 5th Grade Curriculum? More instruction. If schools are failing was the week well spent? More study on time and history. A booklet to study?

• Thank you

• Great Job!!!

• I think that it is a wonderful experience for the students. The arts are important.

• Thank you so much for being here. The kids really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing you next year if possible.

• Positive Response from participating students; High energy level; willingness to answer questions after the program.

• Only to have several more microphones available for students with softer voices.

• This is an excellent way to introduce students in 5th Grade to Shakespeare! It should make his works less intimidating when they study him in the upper grades.

• Excellent program!!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "Hamlet" link at:

G-Squared Theatre Residency at Taylor Elementary “The Twelve Labor of Hercules”

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Comments Include:

• Children were excited and involved

• The students learned a lot.

• The production was a wonderful experience for the students

• Nice job 5th Grade Students

• They always seem to enjoy what they're doing. It's a pleasure to see them in the building.

• Great guys to work with

• Not only did the work with the fifth grade classes but the spent time talking to other teachers in the building

• Very good job.

• Needed more time-they had a short week because of MLK Jr. Day.

• A more detailed outline for the teachers so they can prep the students about what they are doing that day.

• Of course I would like to see this widen to include all grade levels doing a production during the school year

• I thought it was perfect!

• Everything ran smooth.

• Cafeteria

• It was great no improvement needed!

• I feel that our fine arts program provides a great variety of activities that our students would miss out on otherwise.

• My son had so much fun this week. It sounds like they did a lot of learning, but the kids did not see it as learning.

• They did a great job.

• They did a great job!!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "The Twelve Labors of Hercules" link at:

G-Squared Theatre Residency at Southern Heights Elementary “The Founding Fathers”

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Comments Include:

• This was a learning experience that the children will remember forever

• Great experience for students

• Great for all young kids

• I was so impressed!!

• They did a wonderful job.

• Awesome job!

• These guys are so wonderful and professional in what they do

• These guys know their stuff. My class even though they were not involved wanted to talk to them

• Great love them both.

• Greg and Greg do a wonderful job with the students.

• I always enjoy them coming to our school.

• They are great teachers of the arts.

• I think we did a pretty good job considering we had about 60 5th graders to train and work with...

• Longer

• More performances

• Locations for practice were an issue in our building it seems like.

• Loved this experience for the kids

• I thought the students did a great job. This tells me

the team was awesome in getting this group of students to perform in such a short time.

• Without the work of Greg and Greg our students would miss out on the experience of theatre. Wonderful Job guys. Tyson thank you for all that you do for our students.

• We are in a Special ED classroom and would be very grateful if possible for our class to participate in some kind of art sometime. Thank you

• I think it is great. I wish we had something for the Special Education Classrooms. My students are very talented and with a little work they can accomplish great things.

• Great Job!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "The Founding Fathers" link at:

Professional Development

1st Grade Visual Art Professional Development

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Comments Included:

• Thanks for the tips!

• I feel the demonstrated project is too complex for most first-graders, as well as too time-consuming for our schedule.

• Yes, our students need these skills.

• If I modified the project somewhat, I could connect it with math.

• Enjoyed the presentation very much!!

• I don't know but the training facility is great!! We need to have lots of activities there!

• More training on art activities and tips! Hands on I love it ! thanks

• We always need classroom management ideas.

• I would love to attend more art presentation and less Math Investigations presentations.

• ELL, ELL, ELL, ELL, ELL

• I am a first year teacher and I have to say that the visual arts program has help me a lot.

• I would appreciate more first-grade appropriate art project ideas.

• There were several teachers who always bring their children and although they are usually well behaved, I don't feel that is professional. What if we all brought our children? Some teachers hire babysitters to take care of our kids after school.

There is information and resources connected our past professional development events that you can see on our "Visual Art Training Resource" link at:



Staff and Programs supported by the Fine Arts Education Act

6th Grade Winter Band Concert

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Comments Include:

• Would be better with more time, Stone

• Mills Elementary - Mr. Crowe is an excellent teacher. I am amazed at how "good" the 6th grade is for just starting to learn how to play an instrument.

• Strongly favorable – Southern Heights

• Reaches too few students for too short a period

• Wish more would take advantage of this program. Maybe have more school instruments for those who can't afford one to use.

• Every school NEEDS to have a separate room for this... The gym is not an acceptable place.

• Need 45-50 minutes to be more effective.

• Strongly favorable – Southern Heights

• Somewhat favorable – Taylor

• Those that can afford instruments learn a great deal most are left out due to cost

• Some kids do band just to get out of class.

• Love the band, but it seems to be a problem for students to pay for the instruments. It would be nice if the school could offer discounted instruments. I have two students in band and pay around $100.00 amount for instruments. I also believe the schools need to have a stronger music program. It seems to a joke for many students. It is very sad.

• Rusty Crowe is such a wonderful band teacher!! We are blessed to have him!

• I think Rusty Crowe does an outstanding job with the band program here in the Hobbs Schools. The kids respect him, love him, and work hard for him. He works tirelessly to make band fun as well as educational. Since he became our band director, I have noticed great improvements in our band here at Mills. I think Rusty is AWESOME!!

• There have been many different times that my band students have related music and math patterns.

• Without instruments to loan or rent out to sixth graders many are left out. The Band Directors do what they can, but it doesn't reach nearly enough kids.

• Band teachers should be responsible to get kids to and from class. But band teachers need stronger support from each buildings personnel. Example: discipline, location (NOT gym), better communication.

There are pictures of the 1st Semester portfolio work that you can see on our “6th Grade Band Concert" link at:



Grade Level Elementary Art Teacher

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Comments Included:

• The children will complain the second half of the year.

• Heather is very effective with our students that have a hard time academically.

• Somewhat favorable - Taylor

• A very good experience for students

• She gets the best from them.

• Some kids just aren't artists! But the effort is great!

• This type of program would be beneficial all year as some teachers think they cannot teach art because they are not artistic.

• Keep up the great work promoting the arts, I will miss it! KL - Broadmoor

• Ms. Campbell is a talented art teacher. She was very respectful and patient with my students. I really appreciate all the help she gave my group.

• It would be great if it were a full year of art.

There are pictures of the 1st Semester portfolio work that you can see on our “Visual Art" link at:



Discovery 4th Grade Violin Class Christmas Concert

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Comments Included:

• Teaches responsibility, and learn more about music

• Great opportunity for our gifted students. They seem to love it.

• Students love it

• Did not attend.

• Great program--a real asset to the community!!

• Improvement is really on students..dedication-practice at home

• I wish they were able to practice together more than one hour a week.

• If possible, continue with this group into 5th and on to secondary.

• My son is fortunate to have been a part of this wonderful program. We are truly thankful that the programs exist and hope it will continue so that others may participate.

• Great!

• love it and glad my daughter is a part of it

• I am very much in favor of the Fine Arts and believe it in invaluable for our students!

• Always positive and well organized if Tyson does it! - Broadmoor

• The Fine Arts program could be a model for other programs in the state. Tyson does an excellent job!

There are pictures and videos of the Discovery Christmas Concert with the NMJC that you can see on our “Discovery Violin Concert" link at:



PE/Dance Program (6 Weeks of Dance Instruction)

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Comments Include:

• Mills Elementary – Strongly Favorable

• Mills Elementary – Strongly Favorable (improvement)

• Mills - Coach Sappington works hard to incorporate this and make it fun for the students.

• Edison - Strongly Favorable

• Edison Elementary - Well balanced that includes activities from the categories of rhythmic movements.

• Edison - Somewhat Favorable (improvement)

• Edison - I have noticed that the rhythm movements has arouse in a higher intensity of movements, longer participation and interest, and increased the enjoyment. All my students derive pleasure from moving to rhythm activities with or without music.

• Edison – (room for improvement on Fine Arts/PE collaboration) – effective planning

• Edison - I think the program fulfills the criterion of developmental movements, particularly in gross motor activities for primary-level children.

• My first year, so I have not seen the program yet

There are pictures and videos of the PE/Dance Training and Past Years Lesson Plans with the on our “PE/Dance Training" link at:



American Education Week

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Comments Included:

• Broadmoor – strongly favorable

• Broadmoor - Ms. Mendez does a wonderful job and very talented.

• Broadmoor – They are learning to read real music!! Great job!

• Broadmoor – strongly favorable

• Broadmoor – somewhat favorable

• Broadmoor – Very fun songs and letting them shine

• Broadmoor – strongly favorable

• Broadmoor – strongly favorable

• Broadmoor – They learn so much

• Broadmoor – Exceptional!!

• Broadmoor - We don’t seem to be doing much with the Core Knowledge songs anymore. I wish we would.

• College Lane – strongly favorable

• College Lane – students enjoy music; more time would be great.

• College Lane – strongly favorable

• College Lane – strongly favorable

• College Lane – strongly favorable

• College Lane – Our music teacher goes above what is expected of her from the music department. She works to put on music programs to showcase our students. She works well with the students.

• College Lane – Ms. Labastida is a wonderful music teacher who always goes above and beyond. The Kids love her!!

• Coronado – strongly favorable

• Coronado – The students really enjoy music and would probably love to have more time. As well as it being beneficial to their learning.

• Coronado - Our music teacher (Mrs. Heaster) does an excellent job.

• Jefferson – somewhat favorable

• Jefferson - 30 min. is not enough time. By the time students get in classroom and get settled, how much time is spent learning? Not much.

• Jefferson – 30 minutes is not enough time. Between kids going to music and coming back to their classroom, they really only have about 20 min. of music time.

• Jefferson – I wish we could have more.

• Jefferson – Is this time really to teach them by the time they are picked up and settled down?

• Jefferson - We only had two performances all week and they were very short, I would have like to have seen more performances and I would have liked for the students to have dressed up.

• Jefferson – they were so cute!!

• Jefferson – I think performance would have been better and students less antsy if they would have practiced more than once as a grade level.

• Jefferson – very effective for children that have problems learning and music is positive for them.

• Jefferson – somewhat unfavorable

• Jefferson - Fantastic teacher!

• Southern Heights – It would be even better is she arrived on time often my class only get 15 to 20 minutes.

• Southern Heights – somewhat unfavorable

• Southern Heights – I believe we could have a better knowledge music director.

• Southern Heights – strongly unfavorable

• Southern Heights – We were told to make costumes for a program. She asked via note if we wanted a copy of the music so we could help the students in the room, we said yes the music never showed up. We have been told nothing else the performance is tomorrow and we know nothing.

• Southern Heights – somewhat unfavorable

• Southern Heights – somewhat unfavorable

• Southern Heights – I feel our students are not prepared for the performance at Southern Heights.

• Southern Heights – strongly unfavorable

• Southern Heights – Our music teacher at Southern Heights has done a good job preparing students for their performance.

• Southern Heights – somewhat unfavorable

• Southern Heights – strongly unfavorable

• Southern Heights – strongly unfavorable

• Southern Heights – A waste of time.

• Southern Heights Communication is not good. The thoughts and organization is not followed up by productiveness. There is not following through and finishing anything.

• Our music teacher at Southern Heights never communicates with us. She doesn’t let us know when we are supposed to do something for the kids until the day of or a day before. She tells us she will get us copies of songs for the students to practice and she never does. I have gone into the music room a few times and there is nothing going on. The students are running around and running wild.

• Southern Heights - Not well prepared.

• Southern Heights - I strongly suggest we hire people that have some type of degree in teaching music to our students and know what they are doing.

• Stone - I only wish that Stone could have another 30 minutes.

• Stone – I was so impressed with the Stone 5th Grade program. The children did a wonderful job.

• Stone - We love Ms. Holmes at Stone. She is effective and the children look forward to music each week.

• Will Rogers – strongly favorable

• Will Rogers – Needs more time or maybe an honors choir.

• Will Rogers – undecided

• Will Rogers – somewhat favorable

• Will Rogers – somewhat favorable

• Will Rogers – somewhat favorable.

• Will Rogers/Coronado – new music teacher, defiantly a big improvement over last years teachers, nobody has done the job Kathy Stroud did with our students.

• Will Rogers – It is better this year, yet there is room for improvement. This survey could be set up better.

• Will Rogers – does music on a cart so music is in our classroom. I do not like this because the students are distracted easily.

• The students do not get anything out of it. It is an out of class time or a waste of time!

• All elementary schools – strongly unfavorable

• Just need more qualified music instructors.

• Children are not listening and the teacher does not quiet them down before presenting information on songs. There is not enough classroom management.

• There is not enough time allotted for music for our students

• My kids don’t like to go and misbehave in the room.

• All Elementary Schools – strongly unfavorable

• The programs were set up by the teachers.

• 1st not done by the music teacher but by the 1st Grade teachers

• All Schools – strongly unfavorable

• I would have liked for the music teacher to have been more involved with the students throughout the performances.

• The children never even mention anything they sing during music. I would like to see each grade do a program at some time during the year.

• You have the lowest level of elementary music instructors. Some can not even read music or do not know the keys of the piano. They do not want community involvement or help. I am horrified at the quality of elementary music education in Hobbs, NM.

• I would like to see the music program for all elementary grade levels, especially during the holidays.

• It would be nice if the students received more than 30 minutes a week.

• The Fine Arts Program has grown so much in the past few years, it is awesome!!

• Programs aren’t organized appropriately. The students don’t get enough time to practice with the music teacher and often times the program doesn’t turn out very well. Teachers who receive a CD to practice will practice in class but the music teacher doesn’t provide a copy. Example: Students don’t know their songs and just stand there.

• Classroom management and the time of course will always be a concern.

• I think it is sad that we didn’t showcase out wonderful school in the mall this year! How sad for the community.

• I’d like to see more Kindergarten music programs.

There are pictures and videos of the American Education Week performances that you can see on our "Music Performance" link at:



Professional Presented Acts

Mariachi Christmas

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Comments Include:

• Great Job!

• Student's attending events should show proper audience etiquette.

• Different selections of songs

• The sound system. I was very disappointed in the sound system. For the caliber of the program, the men in the sound booth need to be better trained to handle the performance. You could hardly hear the voices throughout the concert.

• There was a great deal of time lapse between the first schools arriving and the last school. The first schools were waiting for almost an hour before the performance began. Also do not totally turn out the lights in the auditorium during the program.

• The woman taking the photographs was a definite distraction from the program. She was in front of the stage for much of the concert and took attention away from the dancers. I think that she needs to be more mindful of those around her and should be a spectator that takes photographs, not some one that takes away from the program.

• The program is very loud. Last year most of the kids were holding their ears.

• Thanks for all you do!

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "Mariachi Christmas" link at:

Southwest Symphony Tour of Schools and Concert

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Comments include:

• Very enjoyable

• We had four musicians who came to speak with our classes. They were absolutely fantastic! They seemed to know how to talk to our students 'on their own level'/listen to kids/explain in fun ways that would interest the kids. Their use of humor and their compliments about our students' behavior made it a very positive presentation for all involved.

• Kept students engaged and informed

• Students need to be introduced to unfamiliar instruments.

• The kids LOVED it. They were very interested, and the speakers shared great, age appropriate information.

• I am so impressed with the efforts of the Southwest Symphony organization! They always try to present music that the kids can enjoy and relate to in a variety of ways. They make every effort to make their concerts 'kid oriented'. I think they do an excellent job of keeping it short and entertaining so as to appeal to the students. The narrator this year (for Tubby the Tuba) did a wonderful job with his many voices and emotions! This was a great experience for my students! Also, the musicians who come to talk at the individual schools always tell our students to find them on stage and wave to them - they'll wave back - - - the students absolutely LOVE this! I hope they will continue to do this every year.

• They were excellent! Peter and the Wolf would be so great for the students to experience.

• I really wish that they would play a little longer.

• The only improvement I can suggest is to get the materials out to us a little earlier so we can have just a little more time to prepare the students for the concert.

• The Symphony was outstanding. Thank you!

• I am so glad our school has the opportunity to see these types of shows and it really triggers the students’ thoughts and makes good discussions.

• I think Tyson Ledgerwood does an amazing job! It's too bad that we are so test-driven that we can't take more time to become more involved with the various arts programs. Also, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have an art teacher at every single elementary school? Maybe we can work on making that a reality.

• Very Entertaining! Great for students to understand how music plays a part in their education.

• My students really enjoyed the program.

• Excellent program.

There are pictures and videos of the performance that you can see on our "Southwest Symphony Presents" link at:

3. In what ways are you getting parents, community and artists involved in your arts program?

We have sent out surveys to everyone and we have received many constructive comments on what we are doing right and what areas need refined. We added the surveys this year because parents kept coming up to us at the events with praise or ideas for taking the event to the next level and we relayed it to the administration. The survey is a great way to get those comments in writing. Our steering committee that includes parents, teachers, administration who can reflect on those comments. We are now neither a beginning program nor an established program yet, we still rely heavily on the community to help us with our arts programming. We give a scholarship to the Lea County Arts Association whose art gallery The Center for the Arts had its grand opening in August. One of our violin students played at the event and Edison Elementary had their stained glass pictures displayed. We also have recruited the Community Playhouse and The New Mexico Junior College Watson Hall Theatre to bus students over for performance sites for the theatre and dance residency. We also partner with the Hobbs Hispano Chamber of Commerce with the Mariachi Christmas performance and the Southwest Symphony with their tour of schools performance. This year during the Tour of Schools our violin class opened for the Southwest Symphony playing when “The Saints Go Marching In” and “Ode to Joy”.

4. Has your Parent Advisory Committee met? Yes____No__X__. Meeting dates:

April 2011. This is where we look at all the data from the surveys and discuss strengths and weaknesses of the program.

5. Attach a simple current budget page showing funding activity. Include purchases, contract services that will help us understand your program.

Budget will be attached to the paper copy presented at the Winter Meeting.

6. Would an Administrative, Community, Teacher Team enhance this program?

We have an administrative, community, teacher team that makes up our fine arts steering committee. They have given us very productive comments. If you see any part of our program that is a success, it is in large part due to some of the conversations we have had with our steering committee. They are very frank about where our strengths and weaknesses are and they are a great resource to go to when we are charting a course for next year.

7. Research shows that one of the most important skills that art making teaches students is creative thinking and problem solving. How can our teachers inspire themselves and their students to think creatively? How can the PED help?

What we have found is that teachers like it when we send specialists to their classroom to help them teach art or teach music, theatre or dance. There are many classroom teachers that are not comfortable teaching these skills. When we send in a professional to support them, they get a new perspective on how realistic it is to plan creative activities that exercise the right brain. It also targets students that are visual and kinesthetic learners. I had a conversation with a principal who recognized our theatre and dance residency program as an intervention for her teachers. It got them to put on a play in a week which was something they would not do on their own. It got them out of their comfort zone and since the two actors we bring in did not know any of the reputations of the students; it levels the playing field for those students. PED can help by encouraging our young visual art program that is comprised of the first elementary art teacher supported by the district in the history of the district. We also need continued support of our developing theatre and dance residency programs.

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