To the editor:

It has been proven that the development of a student without exposure to art and art training is counter-productive to everything we know about producing a well-rounded, confident, creative and productive citizen.

The purpose of this letter is to inform the public that arts programming is declining at a rapid rate in our public schools and a plan is in place, with community help, to alleviate this problem.

In the past few years a number of factors, partly economic, have degraded the ability of our schools to sustain adequate K-12 arts programming. This is not an uncommon problem within our state and throughout our nation.

The Whidbey Island Arts Council has adopted an initiative (originally supported by a Washington State Arts Commission grant) that elicits community partnerships to support arts programming in our schools.

To carry out this plan a consortium of our school districts, arts organizations, business and community members was formed and named the Whidbey Arts in Education Community Consortium (WAECC). The consortium is made up of South Whidbey and Coupeville School districts, the South Whidbey Parent Teachers Association, six non-profit arts organizations, six businesses, teachers, parents and more than 50 donors.

The experience of the grant and the current needs of arts education in our schools has led to the development of a WEACC plan to place island artists in our classrooms and to provide arts training to general teachers.

The consortium organization is managed by the Whidbey Island Arts Council’s Arts in Education committee chairman Robert Prosch and his co-chairman Don Wodjenski. In the last school year, fundraising and donations have placed five island artists in our classrooms. Additionally, as an opportunity to showcase students and local artists and to raise Arts in Education funding, an annual festival has been instituted. The second annual “Festival of the Arts” will be conducted at South Whidbey High School on June 1-2, 2012.

The WAECC goal for the 2011-12 school year is to place seven artists in our classrooms and complete the training of one general teacher.

For an overview of this program visit the Whidbey Island Arts Council website, www.islandartscouncil.org. Volunteers, comments and suggestions are welcome. Email frankirose@gmail.com.

FRANK ROSE

President

Whidbey Island Arts Council