FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Art Goes to School?

Art Goes to School (AGTS) is a volunteer art appreciation program for local schools. Its goal is to enrich students through exposure to art and to motive them to become interested in art through all its forms and periods. Although the principal audience is elementary school students, some AGTS groups visit prisons, senior citizen groups, pre-schools, and secondary schools.

How are AGTS Classes Conducted?

AGTS volunteers visit elementary school classrooms to lead a discussion of art in a fun and interesting manner. The volunteers are not lecturers but are discussion leaders who ask questions to elicit thoughts, ideas, and comments from the students about a group of art reproductions. Being interactive with the children is essential. Each class lasts from 30-45 minutes.

What is its origin?

AGTS of Delaware Valley, Inc. began in 1962 under the auspices of the Junior League of Philadelphia.

Who are the volunteers?

Volunteers in each group are from the local communities served by their particular school district. The participants have a genuine interest in art , working with children and learning. Neither a teaching nor an art background is required.

What is a chapter?

A chapter is a local AGTS group organized by the name of the school district in which it is located. The superintendent of the school district must give approval before a chapter is formed.

Where are your chapters?

Fifty-one school districts in six Pennsylvania counties and six New Jersey counties participate. Refer to the following list to see if an AGTS Chapter is in your local school district.

Pennsylvania:

Chapter
Contact
Email/Web site
Berks (formerlyWyomissing) Jacqueline (Jackie) Johnson
Centennial Kathleen M. Carriere kmcarriere@comcast.net
Central Bucks Krista McDemus kmcdemus@comcast.net
Cheltenham Barbara McCormick barbara19046@verizon.net
Coatesville Charlotte Hatt mychardon@verizon.net
Colonial Wendy Schildt infinitylines@earthlink.net
Council Rock Lisa Gressen lisagressen@comcast.net
Downingtown Anne Suss annesuss@hotmail.com
Great Valley Pat Lewis patandrichlew@verizon.net
Hatboro Horsham/Upper Dublin Debbie Greenawalt dmgartmom@hotmail.com
Jenkintown Adrienne Brockwell abrockwell01@comcast.net
Lititz Cindi Kimmel ckfamily@ptd.net
Lower Merion Danielle Blodget dani.blodget@verizon.net
Lower Moreland Bobbie Forman kenbobstace@verizon.net
Methacton Joanne Sobocinski tigersobo@gmail.com
Morrisville Kelly L. Schlussel-Edens visualdiva@yahoo.com
Norristown Robin Aldefer alderfer@aol.com
North Penn Jeanie Sinz sinzy11@gmail.com
Owen J. Roberts Linda Sue Bauer lsbauer2@aol.com
Pennsbury Lori Crew tick@comcast.net
Perkiomen Valley Eleanor Boehner eboehner@aol.com
Philadelphia/NE ?Mervyn Kline mnhke@aol.com
Philadelphia/Center City Sandi Friedman sfriedman@kleinjcc.org
Phoenixville Susan Greene vfgreenes@comcast.net
Pottstown Candi Haas Simmons chaassimmons@gmail.com
Radnor Anne Carino awcarino@msn.com
Rose Tree-Media Lisa Dombroski L.Dombroski@yahoo.com
Souderton Loretto Davis lcdavis@comcast.net
Springfield –
Montgomery County
Margaret B. Lichtenstein olichty1@aol.com
Springford Valerie Snyder valeriebsnyder@comcast.net
Tredyffrin/Easttown Sue Andrews andsue2@verizon.net
Upper Merion Caroline Hummel ellencarrie@msn.com
Upper Moreland Letty Moon ettymoon@comcast.net
Wallingford/Swarthmore Mimi Haggerty mimibh43@yahoo.com
West Chester Janice Earley janiceearley@comcast.net
Wissahickon Susan Sullivan ssulli3071@aol.com

New Jersey:

Chapter
Contact
Email/Web site
Cherry Hill Jackee Rosenberg punim.sugar@gmail.com
Evesham/Marlton Anne-Marie Bellshot ambellshot@hotmail.com
Haddonfield Diana Bertorelli andy_bertorelli@yahoo.com
Hunterdon County Joanne Wolsiefer joanwol@hotmail.com
Margate Myra Greenberg jerrymyra@comcast.net
Medford Wendy Campbell wewc6@yahoo.com
Moorestown Dana Fienberg dfeinb0923@aol.com
Pittsgrove Karen Cohen skcohen@comcast.net
Riverton Rebecca Reis queenreis@verizon.net
Vineland Susan Simon sms8@comcast.net

How are volunteers recruited?

Volunteers are sought through school newspapers, flyers sent home with the children, brochures placed in museums, local newspaper articles, and word of mouth.

What is the Actual Art Goes to School Training Program?

AGTS members develop their ideas and presentation techniques through a series of informal workshops held in the fall. The workshops for Central Bucks AGTS are held each Wednesday morning at the Michener Art Museum during September and October. During these workshops, volunteers present research on the artists and artwork in the current group of reproductions. Upon completion of the workshop training, new volunteers observe experienced ones in actual classroom settings and begin teaching in October.
In addition, a series of optional art lecturers, held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), Philadelphia Free Library, colleges and other locations, are available to AGTS volunteers. A schedule and description of this year’s lectures are available in the Activities and Events section of this Web site.

How is AGTS funded?

AGTS of Delaware Valley, Inc. is a non-profit volunteer organization that collects modest dues from each member. Some of the chapters have the dues paid by the school district or PTOs; members in other groups pay their own dues. Central Bucks members pay their own dues. Dues, materials purchased, and mileage expenses are totally tax deductible. Currently, the dues are $20.00 and include the two optional lectures that are arranged by AGTS of Delaware Valley, Inc.

How much time must a volunteer devote to AGTS?

The volunteers have total control over the amount of time that they want to devote. Each volunteer provides a list of days or hours on which he/she is available to teach. The scheduler strictly adheres to this list and creates a teaching schedule that is distributed four to eight weeks in advance. Generally, a volunteer visits a school every other week. Should an unexpected illness or emergency arise, volunteers are expected to find a substitute to teach their classes; members are provided with a list of all volunteers’ availability schedules so that finding a substitute is relatively easy. AGTS volunteers are also expected to attend seventy-five percent of the workshops or borrow a video of the workshop missed.

What is expected of CBAGTS volunteers?

CBAGTS volunteers are expected to attend workshops and/or to borrow and view videos of the workshops missed, to maintain a file of all the material distributed each year, to pay dues, to arrive early dressed appropriately and teach the assigned class or to find a substitute for themselves should an unexpected illness or emergency arise. Volunteers are provided with a list of all volunteers’ availability schedules; therefore, finding a substitute is relatively easy.

How is AGTS of Delaware Valley, Inc. structured?

AGTS of Delaware Valley, Inc. is governed by a steering committee composed of two representatives from each participating school district and an elected executive board that guides the steering committee. AGTS is a self-supporting, non-profit organization incorporated in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

What do art teachers think of Central Bucks AGTS?

Central Bucks art teachers welcome the attention focused on art during the days on which the presentations take place in their schools. Volunteers concentrate on art appreciation and see their role as supplementary to the art teachers’ positions. CBAGTS stresses the need for the students to maintain their customary hands-on art classes with the regular art teachers and requests that presentations take place in the individual classroom. Many times the reproductions correlate with the curriculum and provide another perspective on the material being taught. CBAGTS is never in competition with the regular art teachers.

Do all of the schools have an art curriculum?

In Central Bucks all of the schools visited have an art program.

How are new groups in AGTS of Delaware Valley, Inc. formed?

Janice C. Miller (215-771-5049) e-mail (rljcmiller@erols.com) holds the position of New Chapter Development Coordinator on AGTS of Del. Valley, Inc. Board and guides interested parties through the process. She will provide classroom demonstrations and meet with prospective volunteers to answer questions.