Program Overview
The Harmony Project partners local artists with teachers of traditional subjects such as history, science, English and math, thus integrating the arts into the subject matter and classroom. Harmony artists are recognized professionals who have shown an aptitude for working with both adults and children. The goal is to create a basic structure within which artists and teachers can work together to integrate the arts into traditional classes, rather than adding another class to an already overcrowded curriculum. This model helps increase the students’ interest in and retention of the content areas required by the state standards. Following are the component parts of Harmony Project Programs:

Planning
The Harmony Project Program Manager meets with the classroom teacher to determine the subject area and specific content to be learned, the time frame, and the art form that will best augment the teacher’s lesson plan for the class. The Program Manager then selects an artist, lays out the general scope of the session. The Program Director, artist and teacher all review state standards for both the subject matter and the art form, and exchange ideas for integrating the artist’s expertise into the work of the teacher in the classroom.

Sessions
The length of Harmony Project sessions varies, but is typically 6-8 weeks. Artists meet with the students and teacher of a traditional class for one hour per day, four days per week. During class time the artist and the teacher work together to engage the students in hands-on projects. Where possible, the teacher uses other class time to begin instruction in the subject matter, giving the students a grasp of the content before they begin to employ skills brought to them by the artists.

Demonstration of Learning
Towards the end of the Harmony session, the students engage in a culminating activity or event, referred to as a “Demonstration of Learning” This demonstration helps the artist and teacher to review and reinforce the learning that has taken place in the classroom, thereby increasing the retention of the material by the students. This activity also offers the students a chance to share what they have been learning with their parents, their teachers and other students.

Evaluation and Debriefing
As a starting point, we use school records of attendance and grades. For each session, students are given pre- and post-evaluations on comprehension of the subject matter and expertise in the art medium used. After the Demonstration of Learning, the teacher, the artist, the Program Manager and the school’s principal all meet to review the entire session. In this debriefing meeting, they assess what went well and what could be done better in the future. The valuable feedback of these sessions is documented on videotape.