Summer School of the Arts

More from the teens featured in this segment:

"I wouldn't be the person I am without dance." --Sara

"If anybody is afraid they'll they won't fit in here. I mean the first day you'll meet everybody and once everyone cliques and we're all best friends. I even keep in touch with the people who didn't return from last year." --Brendon

"One thing I'll carry with me from dance is teamwork. You really have to incorporate it with dance and any other career that you pursue." --Ray

About the program:
Co-sponsored by Monroe #1 BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) and Nazareth College, Rochester, NY

Dozens of high school students from Rochester, New York, and surrounding counties took center stage this summer for the 16th Annual Summer School of the Arts at Nazareth College. The three-week experience gave the ninth through twelfth graders a chance to choose their concentration in theatre performance (acting), musical theatre (vocal and dance), or visual arts (ceramics, drawing, and painting). Summer School of the Arts, which is co-sponsored by Nazareth and BOCES, offers students exciting opportunities to learn from professional artists and college professors. The days are demanding, and students are expected to push themselves to meet the high standards of their professors, who treat the teens like they were taking college-level courses. The intensive training helps the students develop high-level performance skills that they can show off at the final gala performance on the last night of this special "summer school."

The Arts in Education program began in 1985 with the enactment of the NYS Education Commissioner's Arts in Education Regulations. Funds for providing an arts education for New York State's then 3 million children were made available through Board Of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) throughout the state. BOCES throughout the state became directly involved in the coordination of Arts in Education Programs in schools.

A major stipulation by NYS Department of Education was that the activities within the Arts in Education service must be linked to New York State Learning Standards for the Arts. The four standards cited were:

• Standard 1. Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts
• Standard 2. Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources
• Standard 3. Responding to and Analyzing Various Works of Art
• Standard 4. Understanding the Cultural Contributions of the Arts

In 1988, Monroe #1 BOCES launched the first Summer School of the Arts Program in collaboration with Nazareth College. This collaboration brought together theater professionals and higher education faculty to provide advanced level training for local high school students from participating school districts who were entering grades 10, 11, or 12. Thus, the Summer School of the Arts Program at Nazareth College began. The focus of the program was dance, theater performance and production, and vocal music which supported the New York State Standards. Students were selected following auditions for dance, theater performance and vocal music, and interviews for technical theater production. Summer School of the Arts successfully completed its 16th year in July 2003.

Contact: (585) 389-2180; www.monroe.edu; www.naz.edu