Arts education can improve students’ academic achievement, attendance and college-going rates, research shows, and boost students’ empathy for others. But the key is creating an arts program that’s part of a broader plan, aligns with the state standards, offers plenty of options and reflects a range of cultures, said Sarah Brothers, the council’s education director.
In Santa Cruz County, that includes ukulele classes at the alternative high schools, repujado (embossed tin) and papel picado (paper flags) projects for Day of the Dead altars, and environmental murals at middle schools, among other undertakings.
The council also tries to promote careers in the arts.
“There’s often a gap between arts education and kids seeing the arts as a viable career path,” Brothers said. “But California is the largest creative economy in the world. There are lots and lots of great jobs in the arts. You can make money. You can have a successful career. We work hard to make sure students know that.”
Arts education funding at twerk
In Watsonville, a hip-hop dance party erupts every day in the multipurpose room of Radcliff Elementary. Under the instruction of Luis Sanchez, students do cartwheels and headstands, stomp and hop, twirl and spin, kick and jump — and squeal with laughter — to upbeat dance tracks. Some of it is choreographed, some of it is freeform, all of it is fun.
Funded by Proposition 28 money, Sanchez’s class is one of several hip-hop classes in Pajaro Valley Unified, a largely Latino and low-income district of 15,000 students at the agricultural, southern end of the county.
“It’s been amazing,” kindergarten teacher Leigh Klein said. “They’re doing better academically because they can focus more. But they’re also doing better emotionally — they’re learning to express themselves, take risks. And they can get their wiggles out. … When they see ‘hip-hop’ on the schedule, they all say, ‘Yay!’ ”
With a gentle demeanor and a perpetual smile, Sanchez teaches students dance moves like tutting, popping and breaking, as well as the stories behind the moves. Tutting, for example, refers to the angular arm movements seen in images of King Tut.
At a recent class for kindergartners, students followed his every move — and then added their own freestyle interpretations. Some jumped in a circle and did backbends as their classmates clapped to the music. Others practiced their footwork. Two girls held hands and spun. Occasionally, Sanchez had them line up to learn new moves. When Sanchez played “Cha Cha Slide,” the students erupted with glee.
The program has been a boon for Sanchez, as well. A Watsonville native, Sanchez became fascinated with dancing as a child in the 1990s while watching his uncle and his friends break-dance on sheets of cardboard in the parking lot of their apartment complex. Later, he took up street dancing himself, finding a tight-knit community in Watsonville, Gilroy and San Jose.
As a student at Cabrillo Community College in Aptos, Sanchez helped his dance teacher lead classes and then started teaching dancing at local youth centers and after-school programs. He’d always dreamed of making a living as a dancer, but always had to work side jobs at Target or FedEx to make ends meet. Getting a teaching credential seemed out of reach.
Then, with the passage of Proposition 28, the full-time dance instructor position came up.
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