Johnston City Save the Arts

Save the Arts in JC! 

Our students are in desperate need of your help.  A terrible thing is about to happen in our school district and you can help us stop it.  The state of Illinois continually makes cuts in the state funding of our schools.  The cuts to the coming school year have caused our school board to make the drastic decision to completely eliminate the visual arts program in our district. 

Art benefits all students not just those who are planning a career in an art related field.  Art education is crucial to helping students develop the skills they need to compete and prosper in our economy.  The arts prepare students to become productive members of our globally-competitive workforce by teaching them to be innovative thinkers, creative problem-solvers, effective communicators, and collaborative team-builders.  Countless research has shown that arts education in schools increases test scores across every subject area, lowers dropout rates, and helps close the achievement gap regardless of socioeconomic status.

"The profound impact of arts education on children and youth follows them throughout their lives.  Arts education rewards our children by helping them to reach practical goals such as academic achievement and career success.  Arts education enriches our youth with social, cultural and emotional benefits."  Arts Alliance Illinois

The elimination of the arts is happening all across the country especially in small rural communities like Johnston City.   It is amazing how much money this country spends on research that shows how important arts education is to our youth.  School code mandates Illinois schools to have arts education yet in Illinois, like schools across the United States, schools are eliminating the arts due to funding cuts. 

The school board has agreed to keep the our program if we can raise the money to fund it.  We need to raise $40,000 by the beginning of August! The money will be used to fund the program for the 2014-2015 school year and will give us time to apply for grants to keep the program going beyond that. We need your help both in the form of a donation and in helping us spread the word.  We need action!  Please share this story with everyone you know "“ email, social media, news media, businesses, etc.  
 
 The "˜Earth' without art is just "˜Eh.'