This week we're inviting you to raise your voice, get out into your community, and meet an educator turning theatre into a force for good. We're sharing how you can weigh in on New Jersey's revised arts standards before public comment closes, spotlighting Discover Jersey Arts as your guide to what's happening around the state, and featuring Cedar Creek High School's Maria Lampa, whose students are learning confidence and community both on stage and off. Plus, a professional learning opportunity for art educators and a summer scholarship for young performers round out this week's news.
Public Comment on the New Jersey Visual and Performing Arts Standards Closes July 31
There is still time to help shape the implementation of New Jersey's revised Visual and Performing Arts Standards.
Arts Ed NJ continues to strongly support adoption of the revised standards, which strengthen clarity, coherence, and equity while building on the strong foundation established through the 2020 standards process.
Last week, Arts Ed NJ submitted testimony encouraging the State Board and Department to ensure that developmental progression charts and related implementation resources remain central to how the standards are interpreted and implemented—not simply supplemental materials that educators may never encounter.
Our testimony emphasizes that these tools are essential for:
understanding how artistic knowledge and skills develop from kindergarten through grade 12
connecting individual standards into coherent curriculum and instruction;
supporting consistent implementation across districts and schools; and
advancing equity, particularly in districts without arts-specific instructional leadership.
Public comment remains open through July 31, and we encourage educators, supervisors, teaching artists, higher education partners, parents, and community members to share their perspectives.
Arts Ed NJ's testimony is intended to support the field's participation in this process. Feel free to borrow language, build on our recommendations, and most importantly, add your own experiences about what educators and students need for successful implementation.
Not sure where to begin? Consider responding to one or more of these questions:
How have you used developmental progression charts, Essential Questions, or Enduring Understandings in your work?
What implementation supports have been most helpful in your district or classroom?
Why is it important that educators understand the sequential progression of arts learning?
How can New Jersey best support consistent and equitable implementation of the standards statewide?
Meet Maria Lampa: Building Confidence and Community Through Theatre
At Cedar Creek High School, theatre educator Maria Lampa is helping students build confidence, empathy, and a sense of community both on stage and off. Her spring musical production of 9 to 5 even turned into a citywide act of giving, raising $1,000 for a local food pantry. Read the full feature to hear more about her approach to teaching and the impact she's seen in her students.
Across New Jersey, arts educators are showing up for students every day, bringing creativity, rigor, and joy into their classrooms. Arts Ed NJ wants to celebrate that. We are looking for K–12 arts educators across New Jersey to feature in our Arts Educator Spotlight blog series. If you are an arts educator who wants to share your story, or if you know one who deserves recognition, we would love to highlight what you are doing.
Join Art Educators of New Jersey at the Metamorphic Conference, designed to examine the pressures, constraints and supports that contribute to the ever evolving field of art education.
Find new ways of teaching and reaching your students.
Reimagine your art space and your role in it.
Absorb stories from our keynote speakers that become a new part of who you are as an artist and teacher.
Get inspired by art teacher colleagues to change one small thing that ends up changing everything.
Discover Jersey Arts: Your Guide to the Arts Across New Jersey
Discover Jersey Arts is a statewide arts and culture guide connecting residents to what's happening in their community. They hand-pick events to help you find plays, concerts, exhibitions, and festivals in your area, and their searchable directory makes it easy to discover arts organizations near you. Get out there and support the arts in your neighborhood, every ticket and visit helps keep this ecosystem thriving.
American Theater Group Offers Scholarships for Summer Musical Theater Camp
Broadway Babies, American Theater Group and the Township of Union are pleased to offer two (2) scholarships, made possible through the generous support of the Douglas Michael Krueger Scholarship Fund for our upcoming Musical Theater Summer Camp!
This two-week, full-day Musical Theater intensive is designed for children ages 8–13 and provides an exciting opportunity to build confidence, creativity, teamwork, communication skills, and responsibility through the performing arts.
