What many fail to realize is “these kids” can learn--- no excuses. What needs to be looked at, however, is how we approach teaching them to ensure they reach their full potential. Are we motivating students? Are we appealing to a variety of learning styles? Are we teaching to their strengths or focusing on their deficits?

I firmly believe that one sure way to engage students and encourage achievement is to incorporate the arts into the curriculum. This may not sound like a novel idea, but it can have revolutionary consequences for how we teach our students in a classroom. Although not simple, song and dance is the way many students learned. I know. I was one of them.

To this very day, however, there remains a cadre of educators who believe that children in the urban setting, particularly in St. Louis Public Schools, do not “have time” for the arts. Educators will say, “We tried the same program in a neighboring, affluent district and just couldn’t make it work. Paula, why do you believe it can happen in St. Louis Public Schools?”

These kinds of comments give me the tenacity to prove such naysayers WRONG.

And that is what we're intending to do in the SLPS. Our arts integration program, including hands-on activities that bring concepts to life, is now part of the regular classroom experience.

What is Arts Integration?

• Arts integration uses the arts – music, theater, dance or visual arts – to improve student engagement and understanding of core subjects like reading and math while improving their creative skills.
• Using the arts to bring the curriculum to life, encourages active learning and embraces the learning styles, abilities and needs of all students.

An example of arts integration is the involvement of drama, writing and song in teaching fourth graders about the Civil Rights era. Over four months this Spring, students at Jefferson Elementary in St. Louis learned about Civil Rights by re-enacting sit-ins, singing protest songs, and writing in journals.

This is important not only for engaging our students in the classroom and helping them to learn as individuals, but for our community as a whole. Increasingly, our economy is relying on innovation and creativity skills, which the arts foster in our children.

St. Louis is not the only school district turning to the arts as a learning strategy.

• Washington DC recently adopted comprehensive arts education learning standards for its students. 
• Baltimore hosted a creativity conference to engage the broader community in supporting creative learning strategies in its schools. 
• Cleveland developed an arts-infused curriculum for 3rd graders

For more information on arts integration in urban public schools systems, visit:

• www.KeepArtsInSchools.org for more research, resources and thought leader interviews
• www.InterchangeStLouis.org to learn about the partnership between SLPS and the local arts community.

Paula Knight is Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction K-12, for the St. Louis Public Schools.

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