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. 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) Joelle Dennis tiemediajoelle@verizon.net
Centennial Joanne Heim jobug123@aol.com
Central Bucks  Helene Ault bearhma@aol.com
Cheltenham Barbara McCormick Jmccormick1@comcast.net
Coatesville Betty Smaltz
Colonial Wendy Schildt infinitylines@earthlink.net
Council Rock Lisa Gressen lisagressen@comcast.net
Downingtown Andie Remington acremington@earthlink.net
Great Valley Connie Ferris Meyer cfm7@cornell.edu
Jenkintown Allison Durkin allsndurkin@msn.com
Lititz Katie Clair tclair@dejazzd.com
Lower Merion Wendy Peck wrpcons@comcast.net
Lower Moreland Bobbie Forman lmtsd.org/art2school.htm
Methacton Joanne Sobocinski tigersobo@comcast.net
Morrisville Kelly L. Schlussel-Edens visualdiva@yahoo.com
Norristown Robin Aldefer alderfer@aol.com
North Penn Sidney Matthews sidneymatt@comcast.net
Octorara Kim Bond bondhome@epix.net
Owen J. Roberts JoAnn McKiernan JKM@bellatlantic.net
Pennsbury Lori Crew tick@comcast.net
Perkiomen Valley Terry Nicolo p.nicolo@verizon.com
Philadelphia/RSVP  Elsie Epstein kamishbred@comcast.net
Phoenixville Susan Greene greene@vsi.net
Pottstown Beverly Nuzzo artjn@aol.com
Radnor Nancy McGivney nancy.mcgivney@verizon.net
Rose Tree-Media Betsy Camp camppb@comcast.net
Souderton Loretto Davis lcdavis@comcast.net
Springfield -
Delaware County
Priscilla D'Onofrio pdonofrio@comcast.net
Springfield -
Montgomery County
Margaret Lichtenstein OLICHTY@aol.com
Springford Sandi Barron tizsa@aol.com
Tredyffrin/Easttown Lynne L. Brown lynnelbrown@comcast.net
Twin Valley Patricia Cloetingh dcloetingh@dejazzd.com
Upper Dublin/
Hatboro Horsham
Debbie Greenawalt dmgartmom@hotmail.com
Upper Merion Fran Kahle frankahle@aol.com
Wallingford/Swarthmore Mimi Haggerty mimibh@aol.com
West Chester Joan Seoni jwseoni@comcast.net
Wissahickon Jane Pace jk.pace@verizon.net

New Jersey:

Chapter

Contact

Email/Web site

Cherry Hill Jackee Rosenberg punim@comcast.met
Evesham/Marlton Karen Spieker click here to visit their Web site
Haddonfield Nazneen Mandviwalla nazneenm@yahoo.com
Hunterdon County Joanne Wolsiefer jwolsief@hcrhsk12.nj.us
Margate Kim Sabo skellig2753@comcast.net
Medford Catherine Livinstone camdl@comcast.net
Moorestown  Jan Martemucci  jancmartemucci@comcast.net
Northfield  Jennifer Kelly keithdkelly@aol.com
Palmyra/Riverton Dorothy Sperock /Sharon Merriman iloveplymouth@aol.com /kmerriman@comcast.net
Pittsgrove Karen Cohen skcohen@comcast.net
Rancocas Valley Doreen Clark flannelfantasy@netcom.com
Riverton Sharon Merriman kmerriman@comcast.net
Vineland Susan Simon sms8@comcast.net
West Deptford Rebecca Wilson rebeccawilson@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 December.

In addition, a series of optional art lecturers, held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), 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 $15.00 and include the four 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 so that finding a substitute is relatively easy. AGTS volunteers are also expected to attend seventy-five percent of the workshops or borrow a videotape of the workshop missed.


What is expected of CBAGTS volunteers?

CBAGTS volunteers are expected to attend workshops and/or to borrow and view tapes 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 except one, have an art program.


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

Janice C. Miller (215-348-5626) e-mail (rljcmiller@erols.com) holds the position of Orientation Chairperson 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.

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