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cool is that these institutions have committed to creating a cur- riculum that accompanies our curriculum. It’s very strategic in what the students are learning, what they’re bringing back to the classroom and how it matches our arts curriculum.


C: In addition to these initiatives, what makes the arts depart- ment at DPSCD unique?


A: Well we’re growing. We have an all-city summer arts acad- emy and an all-city dance. We just celebrated our 50th annual Evening of Fine Arts. We have the longest running partnership between what was then Detroit Public Schools and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). We just had our 82nd Annual Art Ex- hibition at the DIA - that’s a really long time for a large cultural institution and a large district.


C: What are some programs that are happening within schools?


A: Any program that you would think of, we have it. We have jazz bands, rock bands, choral groups, a cappella choral groups, harp studio. Tere’s a digital music digital studio. We’re the largest district in the state. We haven’t been gone, and we haven’t been destroyed, so anything that was here that was a solid program is still in existence, and now we’re just building from there.


J: How is the district connecting the students to the rich art and music history of Detroit?


A: We have local arts partners in a lot of our schools ranging from Music Hall, the DSO, the DIA, Michigan Opera Teater, all the way to smaller groups like Crash Detroit or Living Arts or Mosaic. We have musicians in our city that are fantastic and wonderful resources. It’s always nice to read a book about a particular era, a particular style or particular whatever it is, but when you can meet the person that the book was written about or the article was written about and have that person work with you one on one, that is so powerful and so unique to our district.


C: How does the district connect music teachers with one another?


A: Tere’s PD. Tere are learning teams through our curric- ulum writing, there are cohorts that come together once a month for that. We run a multitude of PD sessions and cohort sessions. Cohorts could be for new teachers, or mentor teach- ers, or for arts innovations and incubations. Tey could be content-specific or a geographic-specific cohort as well.


J: What do learning teams and PD look like for your teachers?


A: We have teacher-led PD sessions. Myself and the Deputy Executive Director of the Fine and Performing Arts, Anthony Smith, collaboratively guide opportunities with our teachers. We work to take what our teachers have done and what they’re


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doing and give them the space and the place to disseminate that information. When you have teachers that are really lead- ing what excellent instruction looks like, you have to utilize that.


C: You mentioned writing a new arts curriculum. What was that process like?


A: We have a curriculum written by our teachers, for our teachers, and aligned with National and State standards. We didn’t outsource anything. Teachers throughout the district ap- plied to be on the curriculum writing team. We selected those who would work best together as a team, supporting them with time and space, paying them for their work, and then giving them access to the resources that they needed.


C: What are some challenges you’re coming up against as an arts department?


A: One challenge is that we are still growing. We’re not a finished product. We will be in a better place every month that goes by. Every year that goes by. And that, I think is the biggest challenge. It’s understanding where we are, but continuing to grow in the trajectory of giving an arts education—art, music, theater, dance—for everybody. We’re laying the bricks down right now. We are building, creating, and making a platform for our students to rise.


J: How can the public get involved?


A: My contact information is on the website - andrew.mc- guire@detroitk12.org. People email me all the time: “Hey I want to do this. Hey, I want to do that.” Great! Ideas are awesome. When people come and approach us, if their idea is so compelling and so enriching to the lives of the students, we like to approach each case uniquely and make it work for all involved. Our students are what give us the purpose for the jobs that we do. We are here to serve students.


Jessica McKiernan is a Ph.D. student in Music Education with a choral cognate at Michigan State University. Her research interests include gender, identity development, inclusive pedagogy, and student engagement and agency in ensemble-based classes. Prior to moving to Michigan, she studied Music Education at Oregon State University and taught middle school choir and general music.


Colleen McNickle is a Music Education Ph.D. student at Michigan State University, with research interests of Musicians’ Health and Wellness and Comprehensive Choral Education. With a BA from Augustana College and an MME from the Uni- versity of Illinois, Colleen taught middle and high school choirs, music theory, piano, and ukulele.


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