June 14, 2005 -

Ottawa, Canada -- The National Arts Centre’s Parents for the Arts (P4TA) has announced the first two winners of the new “Leadership in Arts Education Award”. They are Astrid Johnson, a Grade 4 teacher at Bayshore Public School, and Cathy Rowe, a Grade 3 teacher at Hilson Avenue Public School.

The Leadership in Arts Education Award, to be presented annually, honours teacher-generalists who provide an outstanding arts-in-education programme to elementary school children. Nominations were open to all teachers of Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6 (not including arts specialists) in the National Capital Region whose arts programs took place during the current school year. The winners each received certificates and $450 in prizes sponsored by the National Arts Centre, the National Gallery of Canada, Scholar's Choice, St. John's Music and Wallack’s Arts Supplies.

Both Astrid Johnson and Cathy Rowe are classroom teachers who have both employed the arts as a starting point to deliver the curriculum.  They have also taken their love of the arts outside the classroom and have been the driving force behind recorder programs at their schools.

Jury member Dr. Michael Wilson of the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, said the following, “This initiative is the most exciting thing I have heard about in years of arts advocacy.  It is a supremely important beginning that has the potential to spread like wildfire across the country.  In all education, it is parents who have political voice.  It is parents who can change policy priorities of legislators.”

Astrid Johnson, a Grade 4 teacher at Bayshore Public School, integrates the arts into all that she does with her students, using arts to engage them in alternative ways of thinking and to understand diversity and multicultural perspectives. Every child plays the recorder; and each child has created artwork based on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Other arts-in-education projects include a class puzzle created by her students and a diorama depicting an animal habitat. She is also the organizer of a school-wide art gallery entitled, "The Art of Learning".  The judges were impressed by how her projects are simple, cross-curricular, visual, musical, non-formulaic, and original with a high level of integrity.

Cathy Rowe, a Grade 3 teacher at Hilson Avenue Public School, incorporates music into many daily lessons, including mathematics. She organizes the Primary and Junior level choirs where she incorporates tongue twisters, simple rhythm patterns, musical note recognition and breathing exercises into every session. Cathy provides fundamental musical training to Grade 3 through a recorder program and she has approximately 40 students in the Stomp program.  She organized the entire school in the “Music Monday” project where the children performed “A Little Music”. The judges were impressed that she makes the time to run an all-school music program and has the support of the principal, other teachers, and the parents. Her approach is collaborative and very well organized and takes the whole school community into the world of music, creating a healthy and vibrant learning environment.

A jury of three distinguished arts educators from theUniversityof Ottawa Faculty of Education and from the Ministry of Education chose the two winners from nominations received for this first annualLeadership in Arts Education Award. The jury was assembled by Catherine Carroll and Anna Kempffer of the Steering Committee of Parents for the Arts (P4TA).

Parents for the Arts (P4TA) is a network of parents who lobby for and support high quality arts education for all children.  To find out more about P4TA or to become a member contact:  pararts@nac-cna.ca or phone (613) 947-7000 ext. 844.

- 30 -

For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra (613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca