Estill County presenter outlines KEDC Renaissance Arts Grant and local arts activities

Miss Cornett presented the district's KEDC Renaissance Arts Grant (Project Renaissance) during the Oct. 17 special called meeting and described how the program will support arts educators and students in Estill County.

She said Project Renaissance establishes three program requirements: (1) professional development for arts educators through innovation academies and workshops intended to strengthen content knowledge across music, art, dance and theater; (2) the development and dissemination of accessible instructional materials and arts-based education programming, including online resources that local teachers can share; and (3) community and national outreach activities that expand partnerships among schools, local education agencies and arts centers through summer institutes and experiential on-site activities.

Miss Cornett outlined five project goals tied to the program, including growing the number of participating arts teachers, increasing student engagement and achievement in the arts, cultivating collaboration among teachers and artists, strengthening principals' ability to observe and support arts instruction, and integrating art therapy and social-emotional learning into programming. She cited local examples of impact — guitar lessons at the Student Success Academy and visual-art projects that produced hallway galleries — and thanked staff and board members who supported the initiative.

She listed upcoming arts events in the district, including a regional band competition Saturday (marching engineers perform at 2:30 p.m.), a fall band concert on Oct. 23, a middle- and high-school choir concert on Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m., and a Blue Train Theater production scheduled for Nov. 22 during 3rd period at the high school. Miss Cornett said some monetary illustrations tied to KEDC benefits were presented in the materials shared with the board; the transcript contains an unclear numeric reading of a per-educator figure, so the district contact offered to provide clear copies of the grant documentation on request.

The presentation concluded with board appreciation; Speaker 3 and other board members praised the expansion of arts opportunities and noted the program complements the district’s broader student-opportunity efforts.

Attribution

Quotes and descriptions in this article come directly from the meeting transcript and from statements spoken by Miss Cornett and board participants during the presentation.

Next steps

Miss Cornett said she will coordinate future presentations from other grant participants in the district and provide the board with grant documentation as requested.