TUSD Fine Arts / OMA

Ka-ching!!! Fine Arts / OMA saves TUSD over $50,000!

During the first semester of this year, the Fine Arts / OMA Instrument Repair shop saved TUSD more than $50,000 by repairing broken band and orchestra instruments for TUSD schools. Sean Randel, Joel Dunst and assorted volunteers repaired 2156 broken instruments. The local instruments shops charge a minimum of $25 per instrument.  Since some needed extensive repairs which would have exceeded the minimum, the overall savings are actually more than the estimated $53,650. Here you can see Sean demonstrating violin repair to an elementary class and Joel fine-tuning a tuba.   

Let EMC bring Black History alive in your classroom

Some of us may have vivid memories of major milestones in African American history but for all of the students it was "back in the day". Educational Materials Center has prints, photographs, exhibits, panels and videos to make Black History more real and vivid. The EMC print to the left, The four M's: Muhammad, Malcolm, Martin, Marcus, is by Hulis Mavruk. Mavruk, known for painting portraits of African American icons and other political figures, was born and raised in Turkey. Working on Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey, he got to know many young African American airmen. He was so impressed with them that he continues to paint figures and scenes from African American history. You can learn more about EMC's Black History material in the African American History bibliography.  In addition to the material in the bibliography, EMC just got a copy of the 2010 award winning film, Freedom Riders, a documentary of 1961 Freedom Rides. To go with the film, PBS has great website on the Freedom Riders.  The Smithsonian also has substantial online Black History teacher resources. 

Check out the Fine Arts / OMA Resources page

The TUSD Libraries page in this issue of Curriculum Connection showcases a useful website and an interesting website, both discovered by TUSD staff. The Fine Arts / OMA Resources Page is loaded with links like that, links like Curriki, an open source curriculum wiki, links to artists websites, links to silly sites like interactive Flower Garden. New links, like the two in this Curriculum Connection, are added regularly. If you have discovered a website that that you find useful or fun or interesting, e-mail the link to barbara.allen@tusd1.org and it can be added to the page.

Mark your calendar for the OMA Showcase, April 28!

The OMA Showcase is an opportunity for parents, students and the whole community to see the results of the OMA program. Don't miss it!