OPI grant supports integrated arts program at C.S. Porter; students complete two-day apprenticeships

C.S. Porter students and teachers in Missoula presented work from an Office of Public Instruction (OPI) grant that funded an integrated arts program combining language arts with dance, theater, visual art and music.

The program, described in a video presentation by staff and students, aimed to bring professional artists into classrooms, create rotating exhibits called a “museum in process,” and conclude the year with two-day apprenticeships in small groups of about 10 students.

"We're here to tell you about this exciting new grant we got from OPI," said Darryl Lucas during the video introduction. Sina Holt, the drama teacher at C.S. Porter and one of the original grant writers, said, "It is an integrated language arts and arts program. Right within the language arts class, we have experiences in dance, theater, visual art, and music." Holt credited fellow grant writers Carla Goetz (visual arts teacher), Anne Shattuck (language arts teacher) and Raynell Lees (university professor) for helping to design the curriculum.

Students described classroom activities that paired literary study with art-making. In one project tied to mythology, students read The Odyssey and myths from Africa, Native American traditions and Northern Europe, then created masks and wrote poetry and character rationales. The class took a field trip to the Wilma Theater and heard visiting artists, and an actress from the group Living Voices staged material after the class read The Diary of Anne Frank.

Program components named in the presentation included short artist "encounters" (in-class or field-trip experiences), apprenticeships, a rotating "museum in process" that changed as student work evolved, and an ambassador program of selected students who led tours. A student in the video described the apprenticeships: students "picked their favorite art form and experimented in expressing themselves through that art form," and small groups spent two full days immersed with artists.

Visiting artists and teachers who appeared in the video described specific activities: a performance and classroom visit tied to Norman Rockwell, a postcard exercise inspired by Claude Monet, and a collaboration in which students responded to Picasso's Guernica by imagining and depicting "Missoula being under war." Artist Blueberry Jam said of the short residency, "I've never had such amazing results from a group of kids, in terms of technical abilities, in terms of expressive abilities." Steve Guston, identified in the video as a teacher at Sentinel High School, and others also demonstrated hands-on techniques for student projects.

Students spoke about how the arts affected them personally. One student said, "When I get the blues, I usually write down how I'm feeling in a diary or else I express my feelings by dancing and getting it out." Another student said the program made learning "more interactive" and helped reach different learning styles.

The presentation included a note about a short documentary: staff said they had done videotaping and expected to finish the short video project "by 2:30." The OPI grant itself was cited as the funding source in the presentation; the transcript did not specify the grant amount or additional funding details.

The video closed with thanks to C.S. Porter teachers and students for participating in the project. The presentation documents a yearlong effort to integrate arts across curriculum, expose students to professional artists, and highlight student work through apprenticeships, rotating exhibits and an ambassador program.