PHOTOS: CCUSD showcases Expansive Arts Programs supported by Prop 28
Proposition 28 has given Culver City Unified the resources to implement its Strategic Arts Plan, drastically altering the approach to arts education in Culver City's K-12 schools.
Culver City Unified School District emphasizes the importance of arts education starting from its elementary schools, and its philosophies regarding arts education have evolved in recent years thanks to the revitalization of the Strategic Arts Plan with funding from 2022's Proposition 28. Students in art classes at Farragut Elementary School's Culver City Arts and Innovation Lab work on projects that expand creativity and integrate important scientific concepts like leverage and electricity at an early age. || Photos by Christian May-Suzuki The Culver City Arts and Innovation Lab at Farragut Elementary reflects recent changes to the philosophies regarding arts education in CCUSD. According to Farragut Elementary teacher Eileen Pottinger, who runs the classroom, students spend an average of 45 minutes a week in this room, with older students spending 90 minutes in the room every two weeks to accommodate time intensive projects like engineering design, robotics, and sculpture.Music is another key component of CCUSD's early arts education plan, which has made strides after several years of planning through the Strategic Arts Plan, a plan for developing arts education in the District. This plan was revitalized in 2009 and 2011, but the resources to begin large-scale implementation of the plan came in 2022 with the passage of Proposition 28.Students at Culver City Middle School can take a film class, where they are taught about basic multimedia concepts like lighting and composition. Sony provides the professional-grade cameras used in the class, and other tools are given to the students to show them the effects of light on capturing film or photography with funds from Proposition 28, from which CCUSD received $910,000 in the state's most recent fund appropriation covering from February to May.Film Teacher Alexis Reyes helps a group of students in Culver City High School's Film Class. The class is hosted in a specialized room with dark walls and a black floor, which has been made feasible for CCHS thanks to Proposition 28 — the Art and Music K-12 Education Funding Initiative — which is a state measure passed in 2022 that mandates an annual revenue stream from the state to fund arts education programs in school districts.A student uses a tool to inscribe details in a pottery project in Culver City High School's Ceramics Class. In this class, students work with clay in a specialized room equipped with pottery wheels, drying racks, and other tools. Although the class is only available to 12th graders, the demand is so high that spaces are given to students through a lottery.Architecture is another arts elective offered at Culver City High School, taught by Mark Johnson, seen here showing off a bridge project that came out of a class. Students in the class learn about aspects of physical design and create things like a cardboard chair that can support more than 100 pounds, lifeguard tower designs, and the blueprint for a bridge seen here.A student in the Culver City High School Game Design class speaks to members of various L.A.-based arts organizations on Friday, April 18, about her experiences learning about the field's many facets, including art design, coding, and storytelling. The teacher of the class, Kian Darien, installed several retro game machines and consoles to improve the room's visual aesthetic. Darien also coaches the school's eSports team, which has achieved nationally recognized results.CCUSD Board of Education Member Lindsay Carlson (left) and Superintendent Dr. Brian Lucas (middle) joined student representatives like Liora Hartung (right) and members of various arts-focused organizations in Culver City and Los Angeles at the Robert Frost Auditorium on Friday, April 18, to see the impact Proposition 28 funds are having on local schools. Other school administrators were in attendance, including Board of Education members Andrew Lachman, Brian Guererro, and Stephanie Loredo.
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