School’s Academic Program Works--Thanks to the Arts

Up on the stage, game-show host Rick Slick was being his usual outrageous self.

“And now . . . ,” said Slick with exaggerated gestures, drawling his words for maximum effect, “let’s see about those prizes. . . . “

The kids in the auditorium at Ambler Elementary School in Carson roared with delight.

It was not what Slick said, nor entirely how he said it. A large part of what set off the audience was knowing who was talking.

Not the typical celebrity come to campus, Slick in real life is one of Ambler’s own: Dion Betts, 12, a sixth-grader with “As and Bs, very seldom Cs” and an obvious gift of gab.

Betts’ role as a game-show host in a class drama production is just one example of why Ambler has been nationally recognized for its art, drama and music program.

Principal Daniel Lawson, who has received many honors for his innovative curriculum, was one of seven elementary school principals in the country to receive this year’s coveted Kennedy Center School Administrator awards for promoting the arts in education.

Ambler doesn’t have much money for extras, but every one of its 534 students takes part in the multidisciplinary arts program, which Lawson devised.

Lawson credits the Ambler arts program, which has become a model for other schools, with cutting discipline problems in half.

Observers say the program is not a frill but is what makes the school’s academic program work.

Melinda Williams, associate director of the Music Center’s education division, which has provided some funding for Ambler, said that Lawson’s extensive use of education in the fine arts fosters self-esteem and perspective.

“A lot of people can’t see how it is part of the support to other areas,” she said. “Dr. Lawson has the kind of vision and risk-taking ability to say this is critically important for students.”

A genial, fatherly figure, Lawson said the point of the program is to attract the students’ interest.

“When they leave here, they like school,” Lawson said.

Each of the sixth-grade classes wrote screenplays, rehearsed and starred in shows that were all smash hits at an assembly Thursday.

“My kids did drama, a rock video, a monster show,” sixth-grade teacher Marguerite Sawyer said. “They used the camera. I’ve got kids who directed everything. So much of school is rote, but this teaches them to think for themselves.”

“It’s been fun,” said Betts, who is in another teacher’s class. “You learn a lot.” He wrote part of his own part, as well as most of the lines for the role of Michael McNerdle, a goofy game-show contestant.

The other grades are involved with the music and arts programs.

Ambler, which is 87% black, has a magnet program for gifted students and high achievers along with classes drawn from the surrounding neighborhood in north Carson.

Four years ago, the school adopted a curriculum based on the idea that kids love a good story. It formed the basis for the Ambler model.

Teachers structure lessons in science, history, social studies, language, and other subjects on readings selected for literary value and cultural diversity. Every day includes reading out loud and some sort of writing. Students are encouraged to spin off projects from the readings.

“Every child uses the same book. We don’t track children,” Lawson said, referring to some programs where children are grouped by ability and achievement.

Texts for the first grade include “Make Way for Ducklings,” “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” and “Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain.”

In the sixth grade, readings include “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Sword and the Stone,” “Little Women” and “In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.”

After reading “Sword and the Stone,” Sawyer’s sixth-graders were so fired up, they wrote a play based on it. “Everyone argued over who should be Merlin,” Sawyer said.

“Lawson’s contribution has undoubtedly been in writing curriculum,” said Vivian Chen, assistant director of the Kennedy Center’s Alliance for Arts Education.

Lawson was honored in 1987 with the Los Angeles County Award of Merit for curriculum design and speaks frequently about the Ambler model.

He also has been on the California Assembly Task Force on Arts Education, a judge on the television “Kids Quiz” show and chairman of the Black Heritage Assn. of Palos Verdes. He has appeared on the NBC Sunday “Today” show to talk about education and the arts.

In addition to the curriculum, a key part of the Ambler program is the involvement of the artistic community. The school has received grants from the California Arts Council and assistance from the Music Center.

A drama teacher came for 19 weeks to work with sixth-graders. An arts teacher came for 14 weeks.

On last week’s schedule, which Lawson described as typical, the arts program also included sessions with a sidewalk chalk artist, a speech teacher and chorus director.

“What kids need is that there is something in the school that is going to get them excited,” Lawson said.

In a display on the auditorium wall, students wrote down dreams--some simple, some complex--that show Ambler students think of themselves as winners.

“My dream is for me and my family to go to heaven,” Bryan wrote.

Ronnie’s wish was “that everybody can fight for freedom and that everybody can share.”

“My dream,” Kristine wrote, “is to fly like a bird in the sky and one day become a doctor.”