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GUSD interim superintendent spotlights Arroyo Seiko Academy visual arts and theater program
Summary
In a GUSD "Sesenta segundos" segment Interim Superintendent Laura Cortés interviewed a visual arts and theater teacher at Arroyo Seiko Academy about a program that teaches collaboration through puppetry, character work and visual-literacy skills; students in grades five and six are preparing posters for a district art contest.
Interim Superintendent Laura Cortés interviewed a visual arts and theater teacher about the program at Arroyo Seiko Academy during a "Sesenta segundos con GUSD" segment.
Cortés said the district values humanities instruction and introduced the teacher, identified only by his last name, Salazar, who described classroom projects that combine theater and visual arts to develop collaboration and visual-literacy skills.
Salazar said he aims to teach both theater and visual arts because "las humanidades son una parte inestimable de nuestro patrimonio y un parte clave de una experiencia educativa holística." He described starting the school year with collaborative theater projects in which students build and manipulate a paper puppet, then progress to character work inspired by commedia dell'arte. In visual-arts lessons, Salazar said students are "empezando a dibujar, estamos empezando a practicar los elementos de arte y estamos empezando a analizar fotos, imágenes y pinturas" so they learn to read images as well as create them.
Cortés asked how students had responded; Salazar cited one student, Mateo, who repeatedly asked when the next theater class would be and who wanted to practice puppet work and character development. He said students in fifth and sixth grades are making posters for a contest organized by the teachers' union, which he named in Spanish as the "Cesar Chávez and Dolores Schuerta Art Contest." Salazar said the students are "disfrutando todo."
Board member Kon joined Cortés at the segment but did not add program details during the recorded exchange.
The segment concluded with Cortés reiterating the district's commitment to humanities and arts instruction and thanking Salazar for sharing details of the classroom work.
Notes: The teacher is identified in the transcript only by his last name, Salazar; the transcript does not provide a first name. The contest name was given in the audio as quoted above; the transcript spelling is retained here as presented in the recording.
