WHY WOWW?
From the beginning of the fundraising process to build the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts, the board, staff and donors realized there was an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on how our children learn through and with arts and cultural programming. During construction over $1.3 million was given to the future education program, and nationwide research was initiated to find a successful program of arts education for children. After several metamorphoses, ArtsPartners, a program of Big Thought in Dallas, Texas, was chosen as the program to model. During this process, donors from throughout the area expressed interest in supporting an education program that would benefit children in rural areas. Due to this interest and support, WOWW will benefit every elementary school student in the Texas Panhandle.
WOWW works with arts, science, and cultural non-profit organizations and educational institutions to promote excellence in interdisciplinary arts, science and cultural programs. Its primary goal is to integrate arts, science and cultural programming into the core curriculum of Math, Science, Language Arts and Social Studies. This allows teachers to use this programming to teach the state standards: Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS).
Research has determined that the arts are a vital and indispensable element of educational success. It has been shown that involvement in the arts decreases truancy, rekindles the love of learning, fosters racial understanding, increases levels of math and reading skills, reduces anxiety and school stress levels, and contributes to overall academic success.
When teachers fully integrate arts, science and cultural programming into the core curriculum, the following results are achieved:
- Learning experiences beyond the classroom
- Greater community collaboration
- Happier, healthier atmospheres in schools
- Improved test scores
- Increased attendance
- Greater student success
Mission Statement
Window On a Wider World is dedicated to enriching the education of Texas Panhandle students through arts, science and cultural experiences.
Vision
Window On a Wider World has been created to maintain a dynamic arts and cultural education program that meets the needs of children and schools throughout the Texas Panhandle. The WOWW program will magnify the impact of every child’s learning experience in and out of the classroom by facilitating the process for teachers to integrate arts and cultural programming across the curriculum, thus enriching the education of our students by integrating these experiences into the core curriculum of math, science, language arts and social studies.
Goals
- Integrate arts and cultural programming into the core curriculum
- Conduct ongoing research to measure the success of Window On a Wider World
- Ensure funding to sustain Window On a Wider World