Adventures in Music (AIM) is a collaborative project of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra with five school districts in Clallam County. The five districts involved are Cape Flattery, Crescent, Quillayute, Port Angeles, and Sequim. Additionally, programs are offered to the Queen of Angels parochial school, Olympic Christian school and the Home-schooling organizations in Clallam County. The Port Angeles Symphony has been working closely with the schools in developing this program since 1991. The 1994/95 school year was the first year of implementation of the project.

AIM provides an opportunity for all elementary students, grades K-5, in Clallam County, the opportunity to hear quality live performing arts programs during the school year. Supporting curriculum and audio materials provided to teachers offer lesson plans and suggestions for integrating the arts into other curriculum areas. Students receive a handout following the performance to reinforce the concepts presented. The curriculum and performances used are written specifically to meet the needs of the students in our local school districts and to take advantage of local resources.

The AIM program is also available to all home-school students.  Student Handbook,  Teachers Guide and Schedule are available here.

The initial development of this project stemmed from concern over the void in cultural arts educational opportunities, and music education in particular, in many remote communities on the North Olympic Peninsula. Of the five school districts currently involved in this project, four are under-served in music education in the elementary grades. The Cape Flattery and Quillayute School Districts are particularly remote, economically depressed communities. The vast majority of students in these communities have no formal and organized exposure to quality music and lack benefits flowing from such experience. These four collaborating school districts do not have the resources to meet Washington State’s Essential Academic Learning Requirement guidelines. Curriculum directors in all five of the districts use our project to supplement what the schools are able to offer. The project content is based on stated needs of the districts in meeting the guidelines.

Approximately 65,000 people reside in the geographical area served by our organization. In addition to Port Angeles and Sequim, our service includes the remote communities of Neah Bay, Clallam Bay, Sekiu and Forks. The schools within two of these communities have a significant Native American population. The Clallam County Community Health Report published in 1997 reported that Clallam county households experienced lower incomes and higher rates of poverty than Washington State averages. Additionally, it was reported that 17.4% of children were living in households below the poverty level.

The AIM program is designed to increase elementary students’ abilities to perceive and comprehend music, to use those perceptions and ideas in the creation of their own music, and to experience the cultural enrichment of live musical performances. Individual teachers are provided with a curriculum of activities to introduce students to musical concepts.

The curriculum is designed to introduce students to the world of music while reinforcing skills in listening, speaking, writing, and creative thinking. According to a recent report by The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Champions of Change, The Impact of the Arts on Learning:

· “our analyses found substantial and significant differences in achievement and in important attitudes and behaviors between youth highly involved in the arts on the one hand, and those with little or no arts engagement on the other. In addition, and more significant from a policy standpoint - the achievement differences between high - and low - arts youth were also significant for economically disadvantaged students.” Their research also reports“... consistently more favorable outcomes for students involved in the arts- higher achievement, staying in school, and better attitudes about school and community”

4,869 Number of students involved

250 Number of teachers/administrators involved

The AIM project was developed in response to the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra goal to enhance music education for all ages. The intent of the project is to provide the opportunity for all students to experience live cultural arts performances with music as the primary focus. Emphasis is placed on the quality of musicians and music presented to the students. Support of other local arts groups allows this project to provide a wide variety of cultural arts experiences.

Programs included:

Tip Toe to the Tempo - Teaching this important building block of music with demonstrations and student participation.

Jazz it Up - Exploring the many facets of Jazz.

You Can Write a Song - Teaching students how to write a song using various forms of music and creative expression.

Materials provided to schools to support each program:

· Curriculum guides and audio resources to the program are given to each teacher 2 to 4 weeks in advance of the performance. Guide includes a description of performance, works to be performed, vocabulary list, pre-performance classroom activities, and post-performance classroom activities.

All students are given a take-home handout the day of the performance. Handouts include fun information about the performance, activities to do at home, and information on similar events in the community suitable for families.

A free family admission to our Saturday Morning Dress Rehearsal Concert is included on every student guide. It brings great joy to everyone involved in the project to see elementary school age children bring their families to these concerts. These free admissions make it possible for many families, who could not otherwise afford to attend, to enjoy the enrichment of live music.

The following written evaluations are completed after every program:

Administrators Evaluations test the quality of the partnership with the symphony and effectiveness of project in meeting the needs of the school.

Teachers Evaluations focus on quality of performances in relationship to ages and interests of students and effectiveness of supportive curriculum materials.

Performers Evaluation tests quality of support from project director in creating programs, technical aspects of scheduling, and suggestions for improving future performances

Funding is from corporations, foundation grants, and private donations. There is no charge to either the students or the schools benefiting from this program. Financial support sources are listed on each handout given to teachers and students which reaches over four thousand households in Clallam County.

Additionally, each donor is listed in the five programs of the Port Angeles Symphony concerts which have approximately 1400 in attendance at each concert. Please see the attached concert program as an example.

Funds received are used solely for the purposes outlined herein and benefit the Adventures in Music project of the Port Angeles Symphony.

Final project reports will be submitted to each donor at the end of the program year and will include project statistics, evaluations and financial reports. Upon request, at any time during the program year all records will be made available for inspection to requesting donor.

The Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1932. The purpose of the orchestra is to provide performers and the public of the North Olympic Peninsula an opportunity to enjoy, participate and grow in the enriching experience of quality, live music. We are a volunteer orchestra of 80 members who donate over 17,000 hours annually to the community. Performances of the symphony include 5 symphony concerts; 5 morning concerts for families, senior citizens and the disabled (tickets are provided at no charge to numerous local nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and centers for the disabled); 2 POPS concerts; 6 chamber orchestra concerts; 3 free concerts by our North Olympic Youth Symphony; a young artist competition with scholarship award; school music programs to over 4,000 elementary school students in Clallam County through the Adventures in Music (AIM) project; and other special events

The Associated Press recently featured the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra in a nationwide article as an example of how an orchestra can thrive in a small blue-collar town. John sparks, spokesman for the American Symphony Orchestra League in New York, which represents 900 symphonies, said the success of our orchestra “speaks to some kind of need for people, regardless of their actual education level or their previous exposure to this kind of music. There’s a need to go to the same place at the same time with other people and listen to this experience.”