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Crafting
the Community Classroom
Start
with a public school system eager to find new ways to engage
kids in learning; add unique programming from the city’s
largest cultural organization; mix; let develop; then see
what happens.
By
Emily Gaines Buchler
Artists Andy Warhol and Philip Pearlstein
spent Saturdays at Carnegie Museum of Art. Writers John Edgar
Wideman and
David McCollough frequented the halls of the Museum of
Natural History. And more recently, Kristopher Smith—a comic
book artist with a burgeoning list of publications—spent
his after-school hours at The Andy Warhol Museum. All graduates
of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), these notorieties came
of age at Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh—famous, but
hardly rare, examples of how Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
inspires curiosity, and more compelling learning, among the
city’s public school kids.
 According to Lynn Spampinato, the new deputy superintendent
for Pittsburgh Public Schools who came to the city after stints
in Philadelphia, Denver, and St. Louis, it’s not every
city that can claim such educational partners in its cultural
community. “It takes a community to educate a city’s
youth, and we’re so lucky to have vibrant cultural organizations
that truly care about our kids. From the arts and history to
science and technology, we have it all in Pittsburgh.”
Educators at Carnegie Museums believe that programs like theirs
really do make a difference, and they point to a number of
recent studies for support. For one, a 2006 study by the National
Assembly of State Art Agencies (NASAA) found that students
who participate in the arts improve their academic achievement,
stay in school longer, participate in more hours of community
service and report less boredom in schools. And a 2001 study
at the University of Rochester revealed that children who participate
in culturally based after-school programs experience an increase
in self-esteem, relationship skills and leadership competencies—all
necessary ingredients for social and academic achievement.
“It’s amazing what the spark of curiosity can
mean to a child, and we ignite those sparks every day at our
museums and in our educational outreach programs,” says
David Hillenbrand, president of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. “Given
our tremendous resources—our collections, scientists,
curators, and educators—we have an absolute responsibility
to assist the public schools in the important job of educating
and inspiring our young people. We take that responsibility
quite seriously, and our educators have created some exciting
programs in collaboration with our public schools.”
Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt says
the old way of simply asking cultural organizations for access
once or twice a year is just that: the old way. “We have
to continue to develop new ways of integrating the arts into
schools in creative ways…and develop some really innovative
offerings to excite kids around what [cultural organizations]
have to
offer.” (See page 11 for Carnegie magazine’s full
interview with Mark Roosevelt.)
Artful Learning
Carnegie Museums can site a number of examples of the kinds
of integration Mark Roosevelt speaks about.
Over the past five years, Tresa Varner, assistant curator
of education for The Andy Warhol Museum, has collaborated with
Schenley High School history teacher Walt Moser to inspire
out-of-the-box thinking among Moser’s students. A recent
project—motivated by the 2005 exhibition Andy Warhol’s
Time Capsules—investigated Andy Warhol’s quarky
practice of collecting items from his daily existence and packaging
them into more than 600 cardboard boxes. The Warhol had showcased
more than 3,000 objects—newspaper clippings, greeting
cards, albums and more—as part of the exhibition.
 Inspired by The Warhol’s show, Moser’s students
took to the Schenley High School archives, pouring through
90 years of report cards, yearbooks, open reel tapes, and more.
They used what they found to construct an exhibit on the history
of Schenley: old beakers from science labs, film strips from
health class, funny sayings from yearbooks, even a picture
of Schenley alumnus Andy Warhol.
“This project taught students that history is constructed
by individuals,” Moser explains. “They experienced
history-in-the-making, and the lessons learned were invaluable.”
Varner and her cohorts at The Warhol also work closely with
Pittsburgh’s High School for the Creative and Performing
Arts (CAPA), located agreeably close to the museum—across
the Andy Warhol Bridge. “The Warhol is an approachable
place for my kids,” says Mara Creegan, head of CAPA’s
literary arts program. “It embraces popular culture and
provides opportunities that don’t exist inside school
walls.” The relationship is so strong that Tresa Varner
serves as an adjunct CAPA faculty member.
One priceless exchange with CAPA students happened as part
of Youth Invasion, an annual week-long event at The Warhol
that gives teenagers rule over the museum. Students got the
chance to rewrite “wall labels” for the art on
display at the time, with no rules restricting what those labels
could be. Reveling in the freedom, they took full creative
license—writing poetry, prose, short stories, and dialogues.
“My students walked away understanding that art is great
fodder for creative writing,” Creegan explains. “It’s
always difficult coming up with authentic writing topics, and
this project did exactly that.”
Kids at Dilworth Traditional Academy, a magnet elementary
school on Pittsburgh’s east side, have had similar learning
breakthroughs through art, thanks to Carnegie Museum of Art.
But in this instance, it isn’t what students write that
school principal Bob O’Keefe is hoping to influence;
it’s how his students give voice to what matters most
to them. “Many students struggle to express themselves
verbally,” O’Keefe says, “and the museum’s
programs provide a less intimidating way for them to form and
articulate their own ideas.”
Dilworth students now take part in three-day programs known
as School/ Museum Projects that focus on speaking, listening,
observing, and creative thinking. The programs combine classroom
and gallery learning with hands-on art projects.
 “Our collection supports Dilworth’s truly arts-integrated
curriculum,” says Carnegie Museum of Art Curator of Education
Marilyn Russell. “Students love debating and interpreting
what they see in works of art in the galleries. It makes classroom
topics tangible—from social studies to math—and
helps students formulate and express their own ideas." Not
surprisingly, a recent RAND Corp. study of academic achievement
in Pittsburgh schools ranked Dilworth among the top, alongside
CAPA and a notch above Schenley.
“These rankings are consistent with a large body of
research that demonstrates the relationship between participation
in the arts and high academic achievement,” says Russell. “Dilworth
is a great example of how the creative thinking and problem
solving involved in analyzing and making art strengthens learning
across the curriculum, and we’ve designed our programs
to support that type of interdisciplinary learning.”
Pittsburgh Public School’s Spampinato says it’s
no surprise that some of the school district’s top performing
schools have special collaborations with Carnegie Museums of
Pittsburgh. The challenge, she notes, is to successfully infuse
such programs into many more city schools. “We want to
learn how to replicate what works well,” she notes. “And
our goal is to provide these kinds of quality educational experiences
for every student in the district.”
The Spice of Life
A collaboration between Carnegie Science Center educator Mayada
Mansour and teachers from Milliones Middle School is giving
kids who need extra emotional and behavioral support a chance
to get out of the classroom and maybe even get inspired by
science. Mansour manages Mission Discovery, a successful after-school
program that the Science Center established with The Hill House
Association in 2003. Because Mission Discovery’s space
at Hill House goes unused during normal school hours, Mansour
saw an opportunity to offer hands-on science education to kids
who otherwise would never experience it. The Science Center’s
enrichment program for the therapeutic learning classes in
nine middle schools is now doing exactly that.
“These students spend the entire day in the same classroom
with the same learning support teacher,” Mansour explains. “We
wanted to lend our expertise to help teachers and students
with the science part of their curriculum.” So, once
a week, these students leave school to attend Mansour’s
class at Hill House—to learn the principles of physics
by constructing their own roller-coasters and the components
of electronics by building circuit boards with lights and buzzers.
“These projects,” says Mansour, “make students
realize that science is more than just words in a textbook.
It’s really the spice behind so much of life.”
Carnegie Museum of Natural History also collaborates with
teachers in the public schools to enliven school subjects for
students. The museum offers a wide range of custom-made tours
aligned with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for science,
while also supporting Standards for subjects like civics and
citizenship. One program, Native Americans of North America,
appeals to social studies teachers and is currently a part
of nearly every fifth grader’s course work in the district.
It combines classroom activities with a tour of the Museum’s
Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians.
“When teachers sign up for the tour, they receive an
extensive set of lesson plans to use before and after their
visit,” explains museum educator Cathy Audrecheck. “This
comprehensive package helps students draw connections between
what they learn during the tour and in the classroom.”
Fun Stuff
Outside the normal school day, Carnegie Museums offers after-school
and weekend experiences for city school kids eager to stretch
their creative wings. The most longstanding—even famous—is
Carnegie Museum of Art’s Saturday art classes for kids
in grades 5 through 9. Known as Art Connection, these classes
have engaged thousands of kids from many schools—most
from Pittsburgh Public Schools—for more than 77 years.
Students learn techniques in logo design, traditional and experimental
drawing, printmaking, architecture, mixed media, and even video
animation. And each year culminates in an exhibition of student
art in the museum—no minor thing.
“The chance to display something in a top museum was
a dream,” says 10th-grader Garrett Sandidge, who used
the sculpted chair he created for Art Connections as part of
his application for CAPA. “I love telling people I’ve
exhibited in Carnegie Museums!”
The Warhol’s Urban Interview gives teenagers the chance
to walk in the footsteps of the master multimedia artist himself,
Andy Warhol. Every year, a team of high school kids writes,
designs, and produces their own magazine. Developed in 1998
and inspired by Andy Warhol’s Interview, the New York
City-based magazine started by Andy Warhol in 1969,Urban Interview
features student interviews, photography, poetry, fiction,
and opinions.
On the other end of the learning spectrum, Carnegie Science
Center and Carnegie Museum of Natural History are busy grooming
the next generation of scientists—or at least encouraging
young minds to ask questions about the world around them. Teenagers
at the Museum of Natural History train to become docents, engaging
the public with “exploration carts” set up throughout
the museum and equipped with “touchables”—animal
pelts, imitation skulls, African drums, and even a live Madagascar
hissing cockroach. At the Science Center, teenagers get paid
to boost their science knowledge and help other kids. The program,
known as Science in Your Neighborhood (SIYN), kicks off with
an intensive training period in which close to 30 students
develop expertise in science topics and garner confidence working
with kids. Then, they venture out in the community to lead
hands-on science activities with children in after-school and
summer programs in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
“Before I started SIYN, science was just another boring
subject in school,” says Simone Davis, a recent graduate
of Perry Traditional Academy. “Now I see science in everything—ice
cream, pop, television—it’s in all the fun stuff
in life.”
No doubt, the children in these after-school programs are
learning to see science in everything, too. With high school
students as their teachers (and role models), they learn that
science might be hip after all.
“SIYN does wonders for the urban children and teenagers
involved in the program,” says Carnegie Science Center
Director of Education Jessica Stricker. “Many participants
rarely leave the city, and this program offers a chance to
connect with plants, animals, and other marvelous parts of
nature.”
This past summer, Stricker encountered a scene she’ll
never forget. A teenage boy from the program was sitting alone
outside the Science Center: in one hand he held a plastic bucket,
in the other a book on bugs.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I found this moth by the dumpster,” he explained,
scooping it up from the bucket and urging her to take a look. “I’m
trying to identify its species.”
If learning outcomes can be measured in small moments, this
one convinced Stricker of all she needed to know.
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(c) 2006 CARNEGIE Magazine. All rights reserved.