Patchogue Arts Council • Museum of Contemporary Art L.I.
Awarded $1.8 million from the US Department of Education, Assistance for Arts Education (AAE) for PEACE - Partners in Education, Arts, & Community Empowerment.
PATCHOGUE NY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021 - Patchogue Arts Council • Museum of Contemporary Art L.I. announces the award of a 1.8 million US Department of Education, Assistance for Arts Education (AAE) grant for PEACE - Partners in Education, Arts, & Community Empowerment. PEACE will make it possible for collaboration among cultural partners and educators, ensuring that young people have an equitable opportunity to succeed at college, careers, and in their civic lives. This announcement will be followed by more news of awards and programs propelling one of the youngest arts organizations forward with significant momentum!
Partners in Education, Arts, & Community Empowerment (PEACE) at Patchogue Arts Council (PAC) is a program that empowers educators in Suffolk county middle and high schools to make more effective use of the arts for underrepresented students through College, Career, and Civic Readiness (CCCR) and Culturally Responsive-Sustaining education (CR-S), which are urgent issues in local, state, and national education.
This 5-year program is supported 100% by federal funds awarded through a highly competitive grant process awarded by the US Department of Education. As an ambitious and leading arts organization of Long Island, the Patchogue Arts Council is proud to continue the work and research this project has established.
The PEACE project was inspired by ten years of research conducted by Eastern Suffolk BOCES with funding from the US Department of Education, which found that learning experiences planned in schools among teachers, artists, and cultural organizations could strengthen student critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity, often known as 21st Century skills.
Arts education in Suffolk County will be more empowering for young people, specifically those who have been under-represented in middle and high schools, thanks to the Patchogue Arts Council (PAC) and a $1.8 million grant from the US Department of Education for their Partners in Education, Arts, and Community Empowerment (PEACE) project. PEACE will first empower educators in the Suffolk county region of Long Island, New York (NY), to use their creativity to explore issues of importance for underrepresented students. Then PAC will support partnerships between local artists and cultural organizations to help students achieve college and career readiness using more culturally responsive approaches to combat issues of exclusion and segregation. Ultimately, the project will engage student leaders across Suffolk county to imagine more equitable and inclusive learning through the arts.
The PEACE project will include:
- Arts-based professional development for public school educators and community cultural partners in an annual summer institute and monthly online community of practice. Professional development will focus on College, Career, and Civic, Readiness (CCCR) and Culturally Responsive-Sustaining education practices
- Curriculum support for teachers, specialists, college/career counselors, and school administrators to use arts based partnerships and instruction to tackle issues that arise for underrepresented students
- Coordination of resources among schools and cultural partners to make robust partnerships thrive
- Dissemination of best practices, materials, and methods across a national network as well as a county-wide youth advisory group
Once a cultural partner to the Creative Classrooms Collaborative project, the Patchogue Arts Council will now be a proud leader in continuing the legacy of engaging teachers and cultural partners around essential issues in education. PAC will partner again with Eastern Suffolk BOCES to provide professional development and with Metis Associates to evaluate progress.
