Art studies provide value

to academic performance

Florence High School hosted the league art show over the weekend, and those Southern Colorado students in the show provided a look at the developing talent in our school systems.

Many studies have shown the value of arts in education, and several purport to show that studies in the arts have an impact on improvement in other areas of study such as math and English. Even studies which claim there is no proven link between that improvement acknowledge that schools with strong arts programs outperform schools which do not have such programs.

Unfortunately, Colorado is one of only six states which do not require arts studies in the curriculum. However, we are fortunate that arts in our schools are beginning to reflect the growing interests in the arts in the local community.