Arts Education

The arts are an essential part of a child’s education, and the Cabarrus Arts Council works in partnership with the Cabarrus County School system and the Kannapolis City School system to make sure that our students have the opportunity to see and learn about the performing and visual arts through Students Take Part in the Arts, Art Enrichment, Artist Residencies, and Gallery Tours.

Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week through at least one full year are:

• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math or science fair
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem

Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:

• Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently
• Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
• Perform community service more than four times as often (Americans for the Arts Monograph, November 1998)

Arts education…

• Builds a school climate of high expectation, discipline, and academic rigor
• Strengthens student problem-solving and critical thinking skills, adding to overall academic achievement and school success
• Helps students develop a sense of craftsmanship, quality task performance, and goal-setting – skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond
• Leads to an average 82 point higher SAT score per year of art students than their non-arts counterparts