School District 43's new school for the arts could be a hive of creative endeavour when it opens late this year if local artists buy in to the plan.
Tuesday, Trevor Kolkea — who has spearheaded the transition of Moody middle into Moody Middle School of the Arts — told trustees the plan is to reach out to artists who want to "give back" to work with students.
He hopes the new neighbourhood learning centre could bring artists into the school to enliven artistic activities already taking place, including music, dance and visual arts classes.
"The new building will bring that into play," Kolkea told the SD43 board of education.
Kolkea, teacher Michelle Reichert and two students, Taryn Clark and Aiden Green, talked about the school's unique arts focus, which integrates the arts with core subjects and encourages teachers from various disciplines to collaborate. The students said they tried out more things than they would have otherwise, including getting involved in the school musical.
Still, there were challenges in the beginning, when the school lost half its teachers and students to Eagle Mountain middle. At the time, the question among staff was "who's the artist," Kolkea joked.
But he said teachers rose to the challenge, including Reichert, a band and choir teacher, who began to look at new ways to elevate the classroom experience.
"It's pushed me as a teacher to be more creative," Reichert said, describing how she used themes such as water and Canada for innovative classroom projects.
The $28.7-million school faces other challenges: The 5,350-sq. m building is designed to hold 450 students but the current enrollment is just 287. The hope is the addition of late French Immersion, an arts focus and new development due to the Evergreen Extension will increase student numbers.
