Sudbury Secondary School – Arts Education Program

 

The Sudbury Board of Education established the Performing Arts Program at Sudbury Secondary School in September 1985. It was the first magnet arts program of its kind in Northern Ontario. In September 2011, Sudbury Secondary School opened its new arts wing which includes modern music rooms and studios. The program was created to allow students with a strong interest in and appreciation of the arts to have an opportunity to fulfill their secondary school graduation requirements while undertaking an in-depth study of one of the arts disciplines: Music (Vocal, Instrumental, Guitar) and Drama/Theatre arts, Dance, and Visual Arts (including Photography and Fashion Design). Film/Video (now Media Arts) was added in 1989.

 

The Arts Education Program has two primary goals: to foster and deepen a young person’s appreciation of the arts, and to develop important skills that will open doors to further education in a variety of different fields (e.g., employability skills, performance training, and life skills).

 

The Arts Education Program is not intended to be a professional training school. Our central aim is to provide artistically motivated students with all the benefits of being enrolled in a full-service secondary school, while also providing access to specialized arts programs, highly qualified staff, and first-rate facilities. The Arts Education Program serves the needs of artistically talented students with a strong interest in their chosen disciplines. Some students may be exploring the possibility of careers in the arts, while others are simply studying art for arts’ sake.

 

Related arts courses include Musical Theatre, Set Design and Construction, Sound and Lighting, Film/Video, Photography, Fashion Design, Jewelry making, Computer Arts, and Communications Technology with an arts focus. All courses reflect the academic and artistic requirements of the new four-year curriculum.

 

Students also participate in a wide variety of co-curricular arts activities and performing ensembles. Some of these activities are subject specific (e.g., music concerts, dance recitals, plays, art exhibits, recording projects), while others integrate multiple art forms (e.g., variety shows, musicals, media arts displays, set painting), encouraging students to gain an understanding and respect for all art forms. Co-operative educational partnerships with local arts organizations allow students to participate in a variety of arts-related community events (e.g., Sudbury Theatre Centre, the MCTV/Lions Club Telethon and Cinefest). Students who earn at least eight arts credits are granted an Arts Education Certificate upon graduation.

 

Arts courses encourage students to link the study of the arts with history, geography, language, culture, and human interaction. In making links between the arts and other areas of the curriculum, students will see a relationship between mathematics and music, or geometry and the composition of a painting. They will also be able to link their studies of the arts with explorations in technology, such as the use of computers in music or the visual arts.

 

Education in the arts is essential to students intellectual, social, physical and emotional growth. Through the study of the arts, students not only develop the ability to think creatively and critically, but also develop the ability to work independently and with others. A quality experience in arts education maximizes the students’ potential to develop academic skills, teamwork skills, and personal management skills, as well as self-confidence. These character traits are essential ingredients for success in post-secondary education programs or in the workforce.