ST-ART-ING YOUNG. The AIM program strives to empower arts education
for grades K through 3.

A new art integration program has UW-Stout in sight. Over the next two years AIM (Art Integration Menomonie) will work to infuse art into the curriculum of kindergarten through third-grade classrooms. To do this, AIM will provide support for young teachers in the art education and early childhood education programs at UW-Stout and will be partnering with the School District of the Menomonie Area and potentially, the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts, beginning this year.

“Through thriving partnerships, we can make the most of each other’s strengths and thereby better serve our teachers and their students,” said Tami Weiss, director of the art education undergraduate program and assistant professor of the art education at UW-Stout.

AIM will be training UW-Stout early child and art education majors as well as early career K-3 teachers on how to teach performance, visual, and written arts, in attempt to increase overall student engagement. Because what kid ever complained about having too much art class?

Along with making the arts a more integral part of K-3 education, AIM’s many goals is to strengthen and retain the quality of young elementary teachers. The attrition rate nationally for young teachers is about 50 percent during their first five years, Weiss said.

Those young teachers can look forward to utilizing the various benefits of AIM through use of a summer institute, which will provide training on arts integration, co-teaching and mindfulness. With increased opportunities for deeper, applied learning and collaborative teaching environments, one of the many goals AIM is to create a support network for young teachers.

Joe Zydowsky, Menomonie school district superintendent expressed some positive feelings to the the new program, happy to see a collaboration with UW-Stout and the community.

“With so many of the expectations for our schools currently being tied to state assessments in the core academic areas, AIM will help us continue providing the children in Menomonie with a well-rounded educational experience,” Zydowsky said.

During the planning and development phases of AIM, Weiss and other team members took a short regional tour, visiting arts integration schools in five Midwestern states.

“Through integrated arts education programs, these schools’ students are now flourishing and excited to attend school,” Weiss said. “Teachers indicate improved confidence in delivering their curriculum in another mode through the arts.

UW-Stout officials also hope to see an increase in the the number of high school graduates choosing to major in early childhood education and art education.