The Arts, Extracurricular Activities, and Academic Excellence
What is academic excellence? Traditionally, this meant studying and getting good grades in mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, and foreign languages. Perhaps, you might have had an elective such as P.E., music, art, dance, home ec, and woodworking in addition to your core studies. Recently, STEM education is being emphasized and extracurriculars are targeted for budget cuts and elimination, without a thought to how diverse opportunities help students develop diverse skillsets for life, and ultimately as they seek further education and or enter the job market as civically engaged and critically thinking members of society.
The latest research has shown that not only do extracurricular activities from gardening to building circuits benefit the learner just out of personal interest, but also they help reinforce training the brain to learn. The authors of The ABCs of How We Learn (2016) argue that “Making is motivating, yields practical knowledge, and may lead to sustained interest”. Making involves anything from physical creation such as artwork, constructing figures, buildings, and devices, to metaphorical creation such as music, coding, creative writing and more. Mind Foundry believes that encouraging and engaging students in multiple learning enrichment activities will lead to improved academic excellence and community engagement as they grow into young adults.
Recently, The New York Times did a series on one of Miami, Florida’s premier magnet programs and arts conservatories, New World School of the Arts. The school accepts students into the magnet programs of Dance, Theater, Art, and Music, based on their audition and nothing else. As The New York Times points out, this actually leads to the school reflecting Miami’s diverse ethnic population as well as spanning the totality of the economic spectrum. The series focused on the various contributions to the Arts that alumni of the school have made, interviewing former NCIS actress Cote de Pablo, Grammy-award winning orchestrator of Hamilton and In the Heights Alex Lacamoire, and recent Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, for 2017’s Best Picture winner, Moonlight. However, the school not only produces outstanding artists, but prepares students for higher education of all types, from architects to entrepreneurs, from doctors to teachers, from lawyers to anthropologists. The school, which splits its day into Academic and Arts blocks, thrives on small classrooms and enhanced learning that integrates the Arts and Academics.
In such environments where multifaceted, extracurricular and traditional learning coexist and integrate, students can truly excel. They end up producing thoroughly well-rounded individuals who go on to become committed local and global citizens. By providing opportunities to everyone, particularly in underprivileged communities, Mind Foundry is committed to helping ensure that today’s students, are prepared for tomorrow’s innovations through supporting multidisciplinary growth attuned to each student’s wants and needs.
