Our Stories - Arts for Learning Virginia

GuideStar Awards its Platinum Seal to A4L

June 24, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

We’re pleased to report that Arts for Learning Virginia has earned GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency by sharing our key metrics and highlighting the impact we’re making.

GuideStar awards the Platinum Seal, its highest level of recognition, to nonprofits that meet rigorous reporting requirements by providing extensive information to their nonprofit profiles. On our profile, you’ll find contact and organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals and strategy; and a look at our progress toward meeting our mission of inspiring and engaging students IN and THROUGH the arts.

We’re committed to transparency. Our donors—whether they’re individuals, businesses, municipalities, or foundations—deserve to know where their money goes, and they need to be sure we’ll use our funds wisely. The Platinum Seal is a sign that we take the responsibility of financial stewardship seriously.

Check out our GuideStar profile for yourself here: https://www.guidestar.org/A4Lprofile

Please consider making a donation of any size so we can continue helping kids make art. We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means we’re recognized by the IRS and donations are tax-deductible. We thank you for trusting us with your support. Click here to DONATE

The GuideStar database contains a profile for every tax-exempt nonprofit registered with the IRS. More than 13 million people visit guidestar.org each year to research charities as they decide where to donate their hard-earned dollars.

Celebrating Juneteenth with a Commitment to Racial Justice

June 19, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

On June 19, 1865, more than two months after the end of the Civil War, General Gordon Granger led Union troops to take control of Galveston, Texas and delivered news of the Emancipation Proclamation to the last remaining slaves in the Confederacy.

Although slavery ended 155 years ago in the United States, systemic racism did not. It continues to afflict American society in numerous ways, seen most horrifically in the brutal murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Armaud Arbery, and others killed because of the color of their skin. We honor those who have been murdered and otherwise harmed by our nation’s systemic racism and police brutality.

Arts for Learning Virginia stands in solidarity with our black and brown colleagues, artists, educators, families, and children. Yesterday at the annual meeting of our Board of Directors, the A4L board unanimously voted to implement a policy of inclusion, diversity, equity, and access in all aspects of our mission and activities, and at all levels of our organization. We are committed to working to build anti-racist, anti-bias practices into our organization, and as we do so, we are certain of two things:

We have much more work to do, and arts are part of the solution.

Arts for Learning is committed to the children, families, artists, and school communities in our region, to their health and wellbeing, to their freedom and agency, to their human rights, and to the full expression of their humanity through the arts. We are committed to offering programming that reflects and amplifies the communities and cultures in which we serve, as we work to fulfill our core mission of bringing the power of the arts to children in Virginia.

In the fight for racial justice, we resolve to examine and change our own organizational practices and culture. We know that means we need to do better, as we affirm, without equivocation, that

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

We value diversity and inclusion of all people. We welcome your perspectives, thoughts, and ideas, and invite you to write us at info@yav.org.

Arts for Learning and the ‘Covid Slide’

June 17, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

It’s known as the “summer slide,” the learning setbacks that students often experience during their break from school. This year, some are calling it the “Covid Slide,” and the effects are expected to be much more severe, particularly for vulnerable children. Researchers project students could lose up to a full year of the academic growth that would normally be expected.In the aftermath of distance learning, students are likely to return to the classroom in the fall with losses of 32-37% in reading and 50-63% in math.

The losses aren’t spread evenly among all students. Already vulnerable students are expected to suffer the most, with socio-economic achievement gaps widening further due to disparities in access to home internet connections, computers, and direct instruction from teachers.

Arts for Learning Virginia is dedicated to helping address the Covid Slide.

Our curriculum, both in-person and virtual, is designed to act as a bridge between this spring’s distance learning and fall classroom instruction. As our name implies, we’re not just an arts organization—we’re also an organization devoted to education and to promoting literacy through the arts to help students learn in engaging and creative ways. For example, a dance lesson that includes math concepts about fractions and division, without students even realizing that’s what they’re learning, can be just as effective as a teacher’s lecture.

We’ve also been deeply affected by Virginia’s stay-at-home order that shut down schools. The cancellations of spring programming were devastating for both our artists and our organization. At a time when we’ve missed out on tens of thousands of revenue, the programming demands of the Covid era are much more intense for our staff.

Will you consider donating so we can keep bringing arts education to all children, including those most in need of our support? Any amount counts in helping us fulfill our mission. Donate here.

Cheers for our ACE Theater Arts Residency

June 11, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

Mikayla and Sabrina at the ACE performance — Mikayla and her friend Sabrina enjoy some well-deserved snacks after the ACE performance of “Courage and Kindness.”

It’s been six months since the end of our After-School Creative Enrichment (ACE) theater residency at Norfolk’s Bay View Elementary School, and we look back fondly at this pilot program for third through fifth graders. Students worked together with their peers, educators, and A4L artists as they learned all aspects of theater staging. But that’s not all—the program focused on social-emotional skills, too. Parent Brittany Cottrill says the program made a real difference to her daughter Mikayla, now a rising fourth-grader.

“I could see my daughter’s confidence and understanding of emotions greatly increase during this program. She helped out behind the scenes and was very proud of herself. She showed compassion at home towards me in ways I hadn’t seen before. Mikayla also looked forward to being at practice!”

Students gave high marks to the program, with their own assessments showing:

93% gains in creative expression
90% gains in student-to-student connectedness
88% gains in student self-worth

At the end of the residency, students presented a program called “Courage and Kindness” to parents, friends, and teachers. Mikayla, who chose to work behind-the-scenes, helped out when there was a blip on stage and a student dropped a prop.

“They felt so bad. I tried to help them with their feelings. I liked the performance because people on stage were helping each other.”

Warching the ACE performance — An appreciative audience watches the performance of “Courage and Kindness” at Bay View Elementary School in Norfolk.

“I was touched by the presentation. It brought out a lot of talent of the kids,” Brittany says. “It was awesome to see some of the children that we’ve known for years break out of their shell and use the acting talent that you wouldn’t ever know was there unless they were presented with this opportunity.”

Skits focused on how to show compassion to others. One particularly moving skit featured the real-life story of a student who had invited her whole class to her birthday party and then faced the disappointment of no one showing up. Stories like this helped teach the ACE participants how to be kinder and more empathetic toward others.

“With the specific skit, it was really just showing how friends can show friends compassion and be nice to one another in several different situations,” Brittany says. “I just really noticed Mikayla showing that at home towards me, like if it had been a long day and I was trying to get things done and on a schedule, her being more compassionate and more willing to help.”

The United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR) helped fund the ACE theater residency. We thank them for making this project possible.

If you’d like to support our work in bringing arts education to children, please donate here.

A Contest to Say ‘Thank You’

June 4, 2020 By Cindy Sherwood

Isn’t this great? It’s one of the entries we’ve received for our “Artful Thanks” contest. Lucy, a first-grader from King George County, shared this wonderful artwork with us.

We love drawings and would like to see many more pictures, but that’s not all! Kids may choose the art form of their choice to express their thanks to Virginia’s essential workers. A story or poem… a collage or sculpture… a video or photo… there are so many ways kids can show their gratitude.

Entries aren’t due until June 30, so kids have lots of time to work on their creations. We’ll continue sharing entries, and later in the summer our judges will award two $25 Amazon gift cards in each of two categories: kindergarten through second grade and third through fifth grade.

Please share with anyone you know who has creative (and grateful) children. Click here for more details on how to submit.

Make sure you keep up with all our the Arts for Learning news by signing up for our mailing list.

GuideStar Awards its Platinum Seal to A4L

Celebrating Juneteenth with a Commitment to Racial Justice

Arts for Learning and the ‘Covid Slide’

Cheers for our ACE Theater Arts Residency

A Contest to Say ‘Thank You’

Join the Mailing List

Main Office

A Journey of Presence, Creativity, and Heart-Centered Teaching