Recently we had the pleasure of speaking with Diane Aaronson (pictured left), Delaware Chenango Madison Otsego BOCES Arts in Education Coordinator and Carol Brown(pictured right), Eastern Suffolk BOCES Arts in Education Coordinator. Together they co-chair the BOCES Arts in Education Coordinators network.

“BOCES (the Board of Cooperative Educational Services) is a public organization created by the NY State Legislature in 1948 to provide shared educational programs and services to NYS school districts. The BOCES Arts in Education programs provide arts and arts-integrated learning experiences for K-12, students and teachers in New York schools.”

NYSAAE: What is the BOCES network? What is the BOCES Arts-in-Education (AIE) network?
Carol Brown (CB): The network is a way for BOCES coordinators to connect across the state and share information. It’s a way to look at each other’s successes and challenges and share tools that can help coordinators across the state. The network also gives us a better footing with the State Education Department, legislators, and people in our communities. Each Arts-in-Ed BOCES service has a large community to work with – teachers, parents, school central and building administration, arts coordinators, etc., therefore each can work a little bit differently than others. But all BOCES have the same limitations and the same guidelines of the approved BOCES Arts-in-Ed (AIE) service. It’s a valuable organization to have access to.
Diane Aaronson (DA): BOCES is also there to help schools utilize the arts and different cultures that span the state. In every community there are different museums, arts venues, etc. BOCES AIE is customized depending on where you are in the state.

NYSAAE: How does the BOCES AIE network interact with the State Education Department? Do you have any interaction with the Board of Regents?
DA: The network tries to meet in Albany twice a year and on other occasions. The network has met with Regents, the Commissioner, the Senior Deputy Commissioner, and members of SUNY as well. The purpose of our network is to help utilize the arts and cultures in the state.
CB: When we come in contact with members of State Ed. and/or the Regents, we try to come with specific issues. We are lucky that the Regents are very pro-arts. They support having sequential arts teachers and looking at all ways to foster student motivation, engagement, and achievement.

NYSAAE: With many school budget cuts, what is your outlook for the coming school year(s)?
DA: All of the schools in our area have continued with their programs this year.
CB: Our funding is the same as last year as well. Because BOCES AIE is an aidable service for schools, they get reimbursed on an annual basis for the programs they initially pay for.

NYSAAE: What sort of tools and/or information do you have available for school districts to learn about BOCES’ AIE services?
DA: We let the schools know that there are many ways they can find out about arts resources (dance, drama, music, writing, and visual/media arts) and integrate them into the classrooms through catalogs both online and in print.
CB: BOCES AIE service also helps to integrate the arts for teachers through professional development. Those are widely advertised and in the case of our Suffolk County program, funded through the BOCES co-ser.

NYSAAE: What is your background with BOCES? What have you found rewarding and challenging about working for BOCES?
CB: I’ve worked for Eastern Suffolk BOCES for eight years. I’m pretty tech-centric, so I hope I’ve made it easier for our constituents in selecting an artist and contracting them because now they’re able to do it online.
It’s been rewarding to do the work we are doing as a network and to continue to build our relationship with the State Education Department, the Regents and Department Commissioners. I think we’re bringing strength to the work that we do. I find it rewarding that BOCES is always working to educate everyone from superintendents, to teachers, to parents and kids.
DA: I was with the Arts Council first in 1990, and then I moved to BOCES about 13 years ago. Before that, I was with BOCES part-time as a liaison for the Arts Council.
I think our BOCES has become a lot more organized, especially with streamlining accounting and Purchase Orders. There have been some really good improvements with that.

NYSAAE: What has been your experience with the arts and arts education in your life?
DA: I grew up with a lot of access to the arts at home. My mother was a commercial artist and there was always music and art in our home. I lived in the greater suburbs of NYC, so we also had easy access to the arts there. I participated in theatre and always had a love of science. For me, the arts and sciences are an easy crossover – although I am aware that that is not the case for many people.
CB: There was always music and art at home for me, as well. My student teaching involved a lot of contact with schools and museums, working with them on curriculum development. At the time I was personally doing a lot of weaving and dyeing and photography, even teaching photography as well. I’ve also worked at historic sites and museums on Long Island.

NYSAAE: What are your thoughts on New York winning Race to the Top Funds?
CB: New York State wants improved student achievement and teacher professional development. The work we do is for both. If professional development is a component of the grant monies, BOCES AIE would be in a good position to administer teaching training with those funds.
DA: I would hope that BOCES and NY State would like to see teaching the whole child and really understanding how to utilize the arts explored even greater with the grant funds. We know that students have multiple intelligences – and that those areas can be accessed by understanding how to use the arts. Perhaps these funds will help every generalist teacher in the state understand how the arts disciplines can help them in their work. In assessing their curriculum they could see other student goals measured – not just, can you comprehend reading, numbers – but that there will be other parts of a student’s education that will be measured. These funds could also establish a more holistic kind of measurement of student progress, one that measure community values, too.

NYSAAE: As a final note, what would you like people to remember about BOCES?
DA: That BOCES AIE is not a mandatory service but is the number one service for people and educators in the state. It’s really clear that people value the opportunities BOCES AIE offers children and teachers in schools.
CB: That we’re always looking for new programs and speaking to artists about working in schools. We are an information compendium for research on both a large and small scale. We stand as a network for information.

Information on the BOCES Arts in Education Network - Click here.

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