Why the Arts are Important

1. They are languages that all people speak that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness.

2. They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.

3. They develop both independence and collaboration.

4. They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.

5. They improve academic achievement -- enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.

6. They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and "problem-finding."

7. They provide the means for every student to learn.

Adapted from "Why the arts are important?" by Dee Dickenson