Report of Regents Cultural Education Committee to The Board of Regents

Your Committee on Cultural Education had its scheduled meeting on June 3, 2019. Regent Roger Tilles and Regent Judith Johnson, Co-Chairs of the Cultural Education Committee, submitted the following written report. In attendance were committee members: Regent Tilles, Co-Chair, Regent Johnson, Co-Chair, Regent Cea, Regent Cottrell and Regent Mead.

Regents, in addition to Cultural Education Committee members, in attendance were: Chancellor Rosa, Vice Chancellor Brown, Regent Cashin, Regent Collins, Regent Hakanson, Regent Reyes, Regent Norwood, and Regent Mittler. Also, in attendance were Commissioner Elia, Executive Deputy Commissioner Berlin, and Deputy Counsel Alison Bianchi.  

ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

Co-Chairs Regent Tilles and Regent Johnson welcomed everyone. Deputy Commissioner Schaming provided a brief report on Office of Cultural Education news and activities:

The New York State Summer School of the Arts is preparing for the summer session with the ballet and theatre programs opening at the end of the month and the choral studies, orchestra, dance, media arts and visual arts schools opening in July. The Regents are invited to attend final performances or visit the students at the schools during the summer.

The New York State Library is getting ready to kick-off their 2019 Summer Reading at New York Libraries.  Over 1,100 public libraries and branches statewide are offering free summer reading programs to support summer learning and help prevent the “summer slide”.  Last year, over 2.4 million students participated in the program and we hope to increase that number in 2019. 

Regent Tilles, Regent Johnson, Commissioner Elia and Deputy Commissioner Schaming also reported on their cultural education trip to Buffalo in May. They were joined by Regent Collins in visiting various cultural institutions in Buffalo including the Darwin Martin House, WNED/WBFO, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and the East Side History Project at Buffalo State. The purpose of the trip was to learn about cultural institutions’ programs and discuss the importance of cultural education in the educational system.

Public Broadcasting – PBS LearningMedia (Discussion) [CE (D) 1]

Julie Daniels, Director of Educational Television and Public Broadcasting introduced staff from WNET (PBS station serving New York City and Long Island) to discuss their services for educators, families and children including PBS LearningMedia. Sandra Shepard, WNET Director and Executive Producer of Kids’ Media and Education, and Amanda Granger, WNET Associate Director of Community Engagement, presented on various free resources available online for students, teachers and families.