trevordayschool

TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 41 and artists. I genuinely believe that my ability to be a successful EMT, a job that requires interacting with a diverse population under stressful circumstances, is directly linked to my time in the arts at Trevor." According to Ginanne Brownell's 2023 New York Times article "The Mind-Expanding Value of Arts Education," examining the role of arts education requires analysis of "soft" skills, such as communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence, nurtured in the creative process while exploring the human condition. Her article challenges some evaluative studies on arts education: "While studies over the years have underscored the ways that arts education can lead to better student achievement—in the way that musical skills support literacy, say, and arts activities lead to improved vocabulary, what have traditionally been lacking are large- scale randomized control studies." In an attempt to collect Trevor's own investigative data, we asked alumni to tell us about their experiences in Trevor's arts education, specifically what it is that has contributed to their personal successes and what role the arts—particularly the performing arts—may have played in their journey. When examining art in order to assign value to its place in education, one must identify the notion of value. Artists respond to the environment as both observer and creator. The artist- as-creator is constantly observing and processing stimuli to output actions and reactions in new expressions. The creative process is an evaluative method, much akin to the design thinking model for innovation. Design thinking iterates the following steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, and assess; this parallels the nonlinear creative cycle of preparation, incubation, illumination, evaluation, and implementation. Science and technology align with the artistic process in uncommon ways, when you look at the process behind the product. In both science and art, the shared factors are observation of data and the process of investigation and exploration. In searching for resonance in why the arts connect to building a better understanding of the world, Regina De Rozario of ArtsWok Collaborative wrote in her 2023 article, "Fostering Cultural Competence through the Arts," that "to engage in this kind of work would require artists to be deeply attentive and reflective; constantly aware of their own assumptions about what they are observing. They need to be skilled in choosing the most appropriate methods and materials to communicate their vision. Furthermore, art is most resonant when it is not prescriptive but left open to contemplation and interpretation. It is enriched through discussion and critique." Art as experience exists in a human and social reality, but also in an imaginative playground. The four C's of collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking are integral skills nurtured directly and intentionally in the arts. These skills can then support other scientific and academic disciplines. Arts education is the crucial "A" in STEAM, serving as the foundation and nesting ground for all other pursuits. In the quest to acquire useful anecdotal and narrative feedback about arts education's place in a student's growth as a global citizen, the Performing Arts and Alumni departments collaborated on a survey to explore what Trevor The performing arts classes work in circles in classrooms to develop focus and trust within the group. "I don't work in performing arts, and never intended to, but I credit Trevor's art's department with forming a large part of who I am today. Perhaps most unexpectedly I think the methodical way of thinking I learned from watching my mentors chase down problems in the theater really prepared me well for the kind of thinking that is important in law school." —Henry Maquire '18 I N S I D E T R E VO R T R E VO R T R A N S L AT E S F E AT U R E A R T I C L E S A L U M N I

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