New York Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is providing a grant to the Cayuga Nature Center to help it coordinate an interdisciplinary program, Empire State Partnership (ESP), for infusing the arts into the curricula of four local middle schools. The Nature Center is calling its project under ESP, Connecting Arts and Sciences…….Naturally, using nature as its unifying theme for the integration of art, science, math, and technology.

The four ESP partnership schools include Alternative Community School and DeWitt Middle School of Ithaca, NY, Dryden Middle School, of Dryden, NY, and Lansing Middle School of Lansing, NY. Each school has independently selected a project they feel will best accomplish the goals of the program. Coincidently, each has selected an outdoor landscaping project at their school to address both the learning goals of the project and establish additional learning space at each school site.


PHASE I – 1997-1998 Core teachers chose an initial project they felt would address the integration of art into their school’s curricula with the expectation that a larger, more inclusive project would develop.
PHASE II – 1998-1999 Using what was learned in Phase I, each school expanded/chose its project to ensure that it better address overall goals of both the school and NYSCA. Several teachers in a single grade level were to be involved.
PHASE III – 1999-2000 Additional fine tuning was made by each school as students, teachers, and administrations better understood how their objectives could be achieved while fully integrating their project into the school curricula. An entire grade level was to be involved as the project became a major part of the school year.
PHASE IV – 2000-2001 As grant funding decreases, each school will use what it has learned from the previous 3 phases to continue the integration of art into their school curricula, expanding funding resources from both school and community to keep project viable. Entire school to be involved to some degree.

School Goals within ESP Program – Connecting Arts and Sciences……..Naturally:

1. Evaluate and document a successful curriculum integration process combining arts, science, math, technology, and cultural studies.
   
2. Provide direct learning experiences for middle school students both in class and off-site with artists/educators
   
3. Contribute to math, science, technology and arts curriculum development efforts at all participating school
   
4. Develop the Project as an integral, on-going part of each middle schools’ arts and math-science & technology curricula throughout each school