It’s All About Education: Divine Providence: Engaging Community

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Lauri Lee, GoLocalProv Education Expert

 

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Lauri Lee

This month, GQ Magazine proclaimed Providence the “coolest city” in America. If you live here, this probably doesn’t surprise you. We’ve got awesome restaurants! Great institutions of higher learning (including an Ivy and one of the nation’s premier art schools)! Art installations like Waterfire! Free summer concerts! Dozens of beaches within a 45-minute drive!

How often do you take advantage of all the things our city has to offer? How often do you take your children to the numerous cultural events and family-friendly activities offered each week?

The inaugural Providence International Arts Festival took place during the weekend of June 11th – 14th. There were street performers, Grammy-winning musicians, breathtaking works of art, food trucks galore – even the Superman building became part of the Earth Harp, the largest string instrument in the world. According to Mayor Jorge Elorza, the festival was “a way to connect the world-class talent we have here in Providence with artists and performers from around the world.”

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And the festival did feature local artists and performers alongside those who had been brought in from far and wide. Photographer Mary Beth Meehan’s work was displayed both at City Hall and in oversize photos around the city. While Kinky Boots was playing at the Providence Performing Arts Center, the Everett Company performed Freedom Project at the Roger Williams National Memorial.

The Providence Preservation Society held its annual Festival of Historic Houses in Fox Point, while the West Side held a block party. The Arcade, America’s oldest indoor mall, had a style and art show, where local jewelers and other artists sold their work. Down the street, a pop-up shop featuring vintage items and refinished furniture by Mint and That Guy appeared outside the Dean Hotel, while a DJ provided the soundtrack for boarders trying their hand at an outdoor skatepark.

There were musical performances onstage at Kennedy Plaza, on Washington Street, and in the Alex & Ani City Center. There was even a concert called One Providence Experience, organized in the ruins of the old Providence National Bank on Weybosset Street and featuring ten local bands. And, to cap the whole evening off, Saturday night was a Waterfire night.

As I wandered around Providence on Saturday enjoying both the gorgeous weather and the festivities, I was excited to see the variety of people who came out to celebrate. They represented all ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. There were many parents who chose to bring their children, and it was wonderful to see them having so much fun.

Many kids stopped to watch the Tape Art creations take shape. The artists don’t draw on the walls or sketch out their ideas ahead of time; they just quickly apply the green and blue tape to the wall, forming people, catfish, or other fabrications. Squonk Opera’s Pneumatica and Wise Fool’s Flexion also engaged and entertained children and their parents as they performed in and around Kennedy Plaza.

A group of middle schoolers sat swaying in the front row while Mad Satta performed. A toddler banged on his chair along with Pedrito Martinez's drums, pounding out an Afro-Cuban beat. A little girl on her father’s shoulders marveled at the size of the Earth Harp, staring open-mouthed at the strings soaring over her head. Angelique Kidjo had the entire crowd on their feet, bringing at least 20 children up on stage with her at the end of her show.

Children are constantly learning. Enriching experiences like musical performances, visually stimulating environments, and an electric, celebratory atmosphere help a child to build neural connections. Parents who talk to their children about what they’ve seen and the way it made them feel encourage strong vocabulary development and positive social emotional growth.

And let’s not forget that there are lots of other opportunities to engage children that happen throughout the year: activities at Roger Williams Park, the RISD Museum, and the Providence Children’s Museum; hikes with RI Families in Nature; and countless other community events featured on KidoInfo.com. On the third Thursday of every month, art galleries open their doors for Gallery Night.

As pleased as I was to see so many families at the International Arts Festival with their children, I wondered where all the others were.  According to the 2010 census, there are approximately 41,000 children under the age of 18 living in the city of Providence. Even if 4,000 children attended the festival, that would only represent 10% of our young population.

Having a vibrant, engaged community is critical to a city’s success.  Kudos to FirstWorks, the City of Providence, and the many sponsors for making the International Arts Festival a reality; and to the thousands of citizens who came out to support the arts and to enjoy a lovely weekend in our capital. We need to continue to spread the word about the importance of bringing children out into the community and sharing meaningful experiences that connect us all to culture, society, and one another. 

Lauri Lee is an independent consultant with over twenty years of experience in both public and private education, with learners from infants through adults. With experience in teaching, marketing, communications, social media, development, admissions, and technology, she is able to synthesize many of the issues facing our educational system today. She lives in Providence, RI with her family, a big dog, and a small cat. She blogs at http://www.AllAboutEducation.net and you can follow her on Twitter at @fridovichlee. 

 

Related Slideshow: RI Experts on the Biggest Issues Facing Public Education

On Friday November 22, the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University, the Latino Policy Institute of Roger Williams University, the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, the Providence Student Union, and RI-CAN: Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now will host Rhode Island leaders in the public and nonprofit sectors for a symposium on "the civil rights issue of the 21st century, adequacy and equity and the State of Education in Rhode Island."

Weighing in on the the "three biggest factors" facing education in the state today are symposium participatnts Gary Sasse, Founding Director of the Hassenfeld Institute for Leadership; Christine Lopes Metcalfe, Executive Director of RI-CAN; Anna Cano-Morales, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Central Falls Public Schools and Director, Latino Policy Institute at Roger Williams University; Tim Duffy, Executive Director, RI Association of School Committees; and Deborah Cylke, Superintendent of Pawtucket Public Schools.  

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Sasse

"Provide a state constitutional guarantee that all children will have access to  an education that will prepare them to meet high performance standards and be successful adults.

Bridge the gap between the educational achievement of majority and minority students.  This will require the implementation of a comprehensive agenda for quality education in Rhode Island’s inner cities."

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Sasse

"Revisit school governance and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the state, school districts , neighborhood schools, and school teachers and school administrators.  Develop and implement a system to hold schools responsible for student outcomes."

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Sasse

"Build a consensus and buy in of all stakeholders around  the education reform initiatives being advanced by the Board of Education."

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Metcalfe

"Set high expectations and raise our standards across the state for anyone that contributes to the success of our students. From adopting the Common Core to discussing rigorous teacher evaluations, conversations around creating a culture of high expectations have to be at the center of the work."

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Metcalfe

"Expand opportunities and start earlier - we must ensure that all kids have access to a high performing public school of their choice, which includes full-day kindergarten."

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Metcalfe

"School facilities - with an aging infrastructure, underutilized buildings and the need to provide fair funding for school facilities for all public school students regardless of the public school they attend, this needs to be a top issue tackled by the RI General Assembly in 2014."

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Cano-Morales

"Meet the academic potential of all students but especially with regards to urban schools students -- 3 out of 4 are Latinos in Providence, Central Falls, and Pawtucket." 

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Cano-Morales

"Connect through specific best practices the academic successes of our students to careers jobs. Investing in schools is economic development as a whole for Rhode Island. " 

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Cano-Morales

"Increase the access to -- and completion of -- higher education and post- secondary opportunities.  Poverty? Struggling families? Education and access to careers and competitive wages is the best antidote."

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Duffy

"Providing adequate funding is critical -- and there are going to be pressures on the state budget, which mean stresses to meet the education funding formula.  With the predictions of the state's projected loss of revenue with the casinos in MA, education funding could be on the cutting board, and we need to ensure that it's not.  Do we need to look at strengthening the language of the constitution to guarantee funding?"

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Duffy

"Implementing the common core standards will provide continuity -- and comparison -- between states now.  With over 40 states involved, we're embarking a new set of standards here."

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Duffy

"Accountability and assessing student performance -- how that it's driven by the common core, we'll be able to compare the best districts in RI against the best districts in say MA.  That's the intent of the Common Core is a standardization of how we hold the system accountable."

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Cylke

"Issue one is quality.  Your quality of education should not be dependent on your zip code.  And the reality is, certain cities are distressed, or whose property values are not as high, I know each town has a different capacity to fund education. There's an absolute, clear relationship between the quality of public schools, and economic development of states. There's irrefutable evidence that quality public schools can make states more competitive."

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Cylke

"Issue two is equality.  In West Warwick and Providence, the per pupil spending is around $16K.  In Pawtucket it's $12.9.  What's wrong with that picture? If I'm in charge of overseeing that my students are college ready, they need to be adequate funding.  A difference of $3000 per pupil?  We're talking in the tens of millions of dollars -- more like $25 million in this case.  An exemplary school district is Montgomery County, MD -- they have roughly the same number of students, around 145,000 -- there's one funding figure per pupil. There's equitable funding for all kids."

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Cylke

"Issue three is Infrastructure.  A critical issue is whether the state is going to lift its moratorium in 2014 for renovations for older schools, ore new construction.  If that moratorium is not lifted, and those funds are not available, it is critical to us here in Pawtucket. The average of my schools is 66 years, I've got 3 that celebrate 100 years this year. These old schools have good bones, but they need to be maintained.  These are assets -- and this is all interrelated with the funding formula."

 

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