July 2021
Advancing the heART of Education
A monthly newsletter about Fine Arts Education in Iowa
Meet Helen Duranleau-Brennan
Please join us in welcoming Helen Duranleau-Brennan to the IAAE Executive Board!

Helen is a former Theatre, Speech and English educator. In addition to the classroom, Helen served as an Iowa Thespians troupe director at Assumption High School and Davenport North High School in Davenport, Iowa. 

Helen served on the Iowa Thespian board for several years, including five years as Chapter Director. She currently serves the board as Advocacy Director, and as a member of the Leadership Day committee.

In addition, Helen is a member of EdTA’s Advocacy Leadership Network, and has served on the advisory board for the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education. Helen has also served on the national EdTA board of directors, and is the current president.

Professionally, Helen is an educational consultant at Mississippi Bend Area Educational Agency. Her responsibilities include Secondary Literacy, Arts, Social Studies and Title III. 
Visit IAAE at the Hinterland
Music Festival
Be sure to visit the
Iowa Alliance for Arts Education tent at the Hinterland Music Festival in St. Charles, IA on Sun., August 8 and bid on our FABULOUS PRIZES!

Funds raised from our Silent Auction will support the IAAE's
Model of Excellence
Mentor Program.
School Administrators of
Iowa Conference
School Administrators of Iowa (SAI) 2021 Annual Conference offers professional learning opportunities bringing school administrators together to explore pertinent topics facing Iowa schools at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines.

Pre-Conference
Tues., Aug. 3 - registration
Conference
Wed., Aug. 4 & Thurs. Aug. 5 - registration
Exhibits
Wed., Aug. 4 - exhibitor registration


For more information and an agenda
Virtual Des Moines Public Schools Arts Forum

Tuesday, August 3 from 8:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Registration will remain open until the day before the event, Monday, August 2. If you are interested in learning more and registering for the forum please visit:

IAAE's Model of Excellence Mentor Program
It's time to start thinking about the Model of Excellence Mentor Program!

The components of the beginning arts teacher mentoring program include: identification of beginning teachers, assignment of “active” and “observation” mentors (area specific), development of a communications network to assist the mentoring process, a webinar series, and the awarding of scholarships to attend professional conferences.

The Iowa Model of Excellence Mentor Program is designed to enhance, not supplant the established local/district/AEA/State mentoring programs. The mentoring program is discipline-specific. The information that is made available to the beginning teacher through this program ranges from “survival” to “mastery” skills needed to be successful in the arts classroom. 

The information is tailored specifically to the individual teacher and teaching situation, and also provides for networking with other beginning and veteran teachers throughout the state.

Please find the contact information for all arts mentor chairs HERE.

Each individual organization is ready to help your beginning arts teacher. By working together, we can make a difference!
The Arts & Social Emotional Learning

Iowa Fine Arts Education Summit MVPs



The MOST VALUABLE PARTS (MVPs) of the 2021 Iowa Fine Arts Education Summit were:

  • Taking the time to choose to learn and grow! Just having this offered was valuable and for making it so easy to attend from home!
  • Breakout sessions
  • Connecting with other artists and arts educators
  • The keynote
  • Gaining a better understanding of SEL and see the resources available to use
  • Ideas for classroom implementation
  • Affirmation of the importance of arts education in our schools. After a tough year, this was a healing experience.
  • Connecting SEL to the fine arts standards
  • The most valuable part of the summit for me was being able to hear from other educators that my work was and is important, and that what I am doing in my classroom is necessary for SEL. That validation was extremely 
  • Being able to attend sessions from presenters from across the country
  • access to speakers and resources who had incredibly valuable insight and wisdom to share who may have been unavailable to us in a normal in-person year. A benefit of the virtual format is the ability to access recorded sessions of those that I could not attend; I am looking forward to watching several
  • The resources the presenters shared
The Alliance is supported by the contributions of members like you.
Please join us in our mission to support arts education.
Need more information about the Alliance and our programs?

Contact our Executive Director: Leon Kuehner 641-425-0959 leongkuehner@gmail.com

Management support provided by Ferrone Olson LLC, www.ferroneolson.com