AUSTIN, Texas­—More than 1,000 teachers will participate in a half-day professional development workshop on arts-based instruction strategies as a part of the Any Given Child Creative Learning Initiative Monday, Nov. 11.

“Our goal is to significantly impact student engagement, achievement and equitable access to the arts by building a sustainable community-wide partnership with the City of Austin and our community arts partners,” Yesenia Garcia, the district’s Any Given Child creative learning coordinator, said. "This is a transformative time for Austin ISD and an opportunity for the district to create a national model for arts-based integration in public education.”

The 2013-14 school year is the inaugural year of the initiative, which was approved by the AISD Board of Trustees in December 2012.

In April 2013, the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network and National School Boards Association Award Program awarded AISD’s Board of Trustees a grant for its demonstrated support for and commitment to high-quality arts education in its school district. 

Eric Booth, father of the teaching artist profession, will be the keynote speaker. The morning session is at 8:30 a.m. at Travis High School, 1211 E. Oltorf. The afternoon session is at 1 p.m. at Riverbend Centre, 4214 N. Capital of Texas Highway.

Next week's training is a collaboration among AISD and community arts partners such as MindPOP, Creative Action, ZACH Theatre, Pollyanna Theatre Company, The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, The Contemporary Austin, the City of Austin and the University of Texas at Austin Drama for Schools program.