Supporting Arts Education in Our State

The SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities is committed to the growth of our state’s vibrant arts education community. As part of the school’s mission to serve as a resource to all teachers and students in South Carolina, we offer a comprehensive and ever growing series of Outreach programs designed to bring together artists, educators, community organizations, and students. These opportunities seek to match our available resources with the needs and interests of schools and partners statewide. 

To stay up-to-date and be notified about opportunities, sign up to receive our Outreach Newsletter.

FREE Teacher Resources

Virtual Backpack Arts Activities

This year, arts teachers from across South Carolina can participate in standards-based virtual and backpack activities designed to easily fold into any type of arts education setting, whether virtual, hybrid or in-person. You can find our 2023-2024 Teacher Resources here.

New resources are added each month, so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when new resources become available! 

Field Trips to Campus

The Governor's School invites teachers who are seeking arts-based field trips to bring students to our campus in Greenville for a memorable, engaging experience. Learn more.

Guest Artist Experiences

We believe that young artists benefit from exposure to the expertise that visiting artists can bring. We understand that hosting guest artists can be expensive, and that field trips are not always an option, so our Governor's School arts faculty can come to you, free of charge! Learn more.

Teacher Retreats

The Governor's School Teacher Retreat Series is one of the school’s most sought-after professional development opportunities. Hosted collaboratively between the Office of Outreach and the Office of Arts and Academics, these two-day intensives provide high-quality, hands-on experiences designed to support educators in the arts in an environment of artistic excellence. Learn more about this year's Retreats here.

Professional Learning Opportunities

The Governor's School understands that arts teachers should have the opportunity to practice their craft, allowing us to provide a teacher-as-artist model for professional learning. Teachers, district personnel, and state arts networks frequently call on the Governor's School to present at annual school district professional development days or arts-based conferences. As part of the Governor's School mission to be a resource to ALL schools in SC, professional development opportunities are typically free of charge.

Learn more.

 

Programs and Partnerships

Service Learning

Governor's School students are invited and encouraged to cultivate their own service interests through the Connecting Arts Through Service (C.A.T.S.) club. Learn more about our service-learning program. 

Arts Grow SC - Spark

Spark builds reading engagement, reading motivation, and creative/divergent thinking by helping students connect the actor's basic skill set (body, voice, imagination, cooperation & ensemble) to reading and storytelling.  

Spark is funded by Arts Grow SC, a partnership between the South Carolina Arts Commission and the South Carolina Department of Education. Learn more.

Lowcountry Youth Dance Academy

The Lowcountry Youth Dance Academy (LYDA), a regional outreach initiative, offers male and female dancers in 5th - 10th grades an opportunity to explore the rigors and demands associated with pre-professional ballet training under the supervision of the Dance Department of Governor's School. Learn more.

SC Afterschool Alliance

The Governor’s School recognizes the valuable role that afterschool agencies play in the overall safety, wellbeing, and educational growth of students statewide. In order to connect with this community, SCGSAH is pleased to partner with the SC Afterschool Alliance to share monthly resources and ensure that the arts are an integral part of this important student experience. 

We also partner with many of these programs in the summer for our Ignite guest artist visits. Ignite is a series of arts experiences designed to “fire up a passion for the arts,” encouraging students to “think like artists” by exploring capacities, processes, questions, and themes through multiple art forms. Students are provided access to teachers and curriculum specially crafted to encourage participants to identify and explore their own artistic voices, interests, and skills. No prior arts experience is required, and rather than focus on perfecting a skill, students are encouraged to be creative, take risks, and explore new art forms.

 

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Spark
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