Pilot program to use arts to help teach other subjects

Ten Minnesota schools are participating in a pilot project using the arts to improve student achievement. The Perpich Arts Integration Project is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Sue Mackert, executive director of the Perpich Center for Arts Education, says teachers will learn how to use the arts to teach subjects like math and social studies.

"It's really taking various aspects of the arts and applying those to non-art courses, in order for students to have new ways to grasp processes and learn," she said.

Mackert says for example, sculpture could help teach geometry, or music could be part of a history lesson.

A $1 million grant will fund the program for 18 months in the 10 participating schools, which are all in west central Minnnesota. They are: Fergus Falls, Hawley, Lake Park Audubon, Moorhead, Morris, New York Mills, Osakis, Perham, Rothsay and Wheaton.

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