Erin Murray & Jane OBrien

When rap music was introduced…

當(dāng)學(xué)校引入饒舌音樂……

（Rap Music）

Would you guess that this music video is actually an English assignment？

Well， it is， and its an assignment that is helping students who werent excelling in their English and Language Arts class.

James Gibson （Mission IDEA）： Music not only helps students with writing， but with speaking， oral delivery， a lot of different things， 1）intonation， and a lot of these things are actually TEKS—*Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills—that we have to have our students know for the State exam.

Meet Juan Meza and Omar Celedon， two stars of the high school music video “Mondays.”But these star rappers were not originally star students.

Juan： …like， not paying attention， like being bad， being rude and stuff.

Omar： I just like never pass any quiz or any test， none， always failing， always failing.

But when they could work in a medium that they loved， rap music， their attitude and work ethic totally changed. Juan： Well， at first I was excited. I was， like， Oooo， its my first time making a music video. Ive been thinking of this like I was a little kid， like being a rapper like just like Eminem.

（Rap： Im number one. Im always getting the job done.）

So with the help of Gibson， Mission *IDEA， English students produced a rap video promoting positive learning.

James： The things that the students say are incredible. Juan and Omar talk about going to college， they talk about working hard， they talk about a little bit about their culture， but its always very positive.

Meza says its been an experience he will always remember.

Juan： When I came here， like， it changed my， like， my life . . .

Reporter： Mm Hmm.

Juan： …cause， like， this school， like， it really cares.

（饒舌音樂）

你能猜得到這個(gè)音樂視頻其實(shí)是一份英語作業(yè)嗎？

嗯，確實(shí)是的，這個(gè)作業(yè)旨在幫助那些在英語和語言藝術(shù)這門課表現(xiàn)一般的學(xué)生。

詹姆斯·吉布森（米申IDEA項(xiàng)目）：音樂不僅僅對學(xué)生的寫作有幫助，而且對學(xué)生說話也有幫助，如口頭表達(dá)、語調(diào)等許多不同的方面，而這些技能實(shí)際上是得克薩斯州必要的知識與技能的一部分，按它的要求，學(xué)生參加全州考試時(shí)需要掌握這些技能。

來認(rèn)識一下胡安·梅扎和奧馬爾·西萊頓。他們是高中音樂視頻“星期一”里的明星，不過，這兩位饒舌歌手原來可不是什么好學(xué)生。

胡安：……比如不集中精神，表現(xiàn)差，還有無禮，等等。

奧馬爾：我參加的所有測驗(yàn)、考試，從來就沒有及格過，一次都沒有，永遠(yuǎn)都是不及格，不及格。

可是，當(dāng)他們可以通過自己喜歡的饒舌音樂來學(xué)習(xí)英語，他們的態(tài)度和觀念完全變了。

胡安：呃，一開始我很興奮，我當(dāng)時(shí)想，哦，這可是我第一次拍攝制作音樂視頻。我小時(shí)候就很想成為像阿姆那樣的饒舌歌手。（饒舌音樂：我最棒，我總能把事情完成得很好。）

就這樣，在詹姆斯的協(xié)助下，參加米申IDEA英語課學(xué)習(xí)的學(xué)生制作了一個(gè)饒舌音樂視頻，宣傳積極的學(xué)習(xí)態(tài)度。

詹姆斯：學(xué)生們現(xiàn)在說的話都讓人感到驚訝。胡安和奧馬爾在談?wù)撋洗髮W(xué)的事，他們在討論怎么樣努力學(xué)習(xí)，還談?wù)撍麄冏约旱奈幕际且恍┱娴臇|西。

胡安說他永遠(yuǎn)都會記得這段經(jīng)歷。

胡安：我來到這里后，嗯，發(fā)生的事情改變了我的生活……

記者：嗯。

胡安：因?yàn)?，這個(gè)嘛，這所學(xué)校是真正地關(guān)心我們。

當(dāng)保安退出，藝術(shù)進(jìn)門……

It sounds like a script from a Hollywood movie： take a failing school， introduce the performing arts and watch the transformation take place.

Of course its not quite that easy， but a few years ago， Orchard Gardens was a very different school. Violence was normal and children carried weapons. No teacher stayed for long. Thirteen-year-old Jamal says he was one of the troublemakers. He says art has changed his life， and now hes winning awards for his paintings.

Jamal： It interests me. It keeps me calm. Whenever I get， like， upset or so， so I tend to draw when Im mad.

Art became a focal point of the school three years ago， when Principal Andrew Bott took over. His first action was to fire security guards and use the money to hire art teachers.

Andrew： There were a lot of

people that said， wait， wait a year before you eliminate the security， phase in the arts staff， phase out the security， go through a process. But when I looked at the big picture， it made the most sense to just to go big， go bold， and to do this all at once. If were gonna undergo a transformation， it made the most sense to tackle it altogether.

Voice： …even begin transferring that photograph onto the large watercolour paper.

Now theyre part of a government program to test whether arts education can make a difference.

Rachel Goslins （*Presidentss Committee on the Arts and the Humanities）： Theres actually a lot of science and research out there thats come out over the last 10 years； 2）longitudinal studies of tens of thousands of low income kids that show that low-income kids who are engaged in the arts are three times more likely to have high attendance records， theyre four times more likely to be involved in a student club or student government. And they are significantly more likely to have higher achievement and to go on to 4-year colleges.

Orchard Gardens is one of eight schools in the country receiving $2 million over two years for arts education. But this isnt about creating a great arts program. This is about using the arts as a fundamental tool for education.

Along with art， Jamal has also discovered an interest in music. He says the practice keeps him focused and out of trouble.

Jamal： It keeps me from doing anything bad outside of school， and it keeps me， like， it keeps me to show and other kids that theres always something big out there in the world that you can do.

故事聽起來就像是一部好萊塢電影里的情節(jié)：找一所正在走下坡路的學(xué)校，引入表演藝術(shù)課，然后就可以看到學(xué)校的轉(zhuǎn)變了。

事情當(dāng)然不會那么簡單，但幾年前，蘭園學(xué)?？墒且凰c現(xiàn)在非常不一樣的學(xué)校。校園內(nèi)的暴力行為是常態(tài)，學(xué)生攜槍上學(xué)，老師在這里也呆不長。13歲的賈馬爾說他自己就是經(jīng)常惹事的人之一。他說是藝術(shù)改變了他的生活，如今，他的畫作贏得了不少獎(jiǎng)。

賈馬爾：我對畫畫產(chǎn)生了興趣，它能讓我平靜下來。不管什么時(shí)候，比如說心煩，所以如果我不高興，我就會去畫。

三年前，新校長安德魯·博特到這所學(xué)校上任，藝術(shù)教學(xué)成了學(xué)校里眾人關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)。他的第一把火就是解雇學(xué)校保安，用省下來的錢去請藝術(shù)老師。

安德魯：當(dāng)時(shí)很多人說，等一下，等過了一年再取消安保，慢慢地讓藝術(shù)老師進(jìn)入學(xué)校，讓保安漸漸地退出，這些需要一個(gè)過程?？晌覐娜挚紤]，覺得大動(dòng)作、大膽的作為，一次性落實(shí)這些措施最明智。如果我們要進(jìn)行變革，一次性處理所有問題會更好。

畫外音：……甚至可以開始把照片搬到大張的水彩畫紙上。

政府有一個(gè)測試藝術(shù)教育能否真正起作用的項(xiàng)目。如今，這所學(xué)校是參與這個(gè)項(xiàng)目的學(xué)校之一。

雷切爾·戈斯林斯（總統(tǒng)藝術(shù)與人文委員會）：在過去的十年里確實(shí)出了許多科學(xué)研究成果。對數(shù)萬名來自低收入家庭的學(xué)生多年縱觀的研究表明，參與藝術(shù)活動(dòng)的低收入家庭的學(xué)生的高出勤率是其他不參與這些活動(dòng)的學(xué)生的三倍，他們參與學(xué)生社團(tuán)或?qū)W生會活動(dòng)的機(jī)率則是四倍。他們當(dāng)中成績好，能上四年制本科大學(xué)的比例相當(dāng)高。

全國有八所學(xué)校在兩年里可以得到兩百萬美元的撥款，專門用于進(jìn)行藝術(shù)教育，蘭園學(xué)校正是其中之一。這可不僅僅是打造一個(gè)高質(zhì)量的藝術(shù)教程這么簡單，而是要把藝術(shù)當(dāng)成教育的一個(gè)基本工具。

除了畫畫之外，賈馬爾還發(fā)現(xiàn)自己對音樂也有興趣，他說樂器練習(xí)可以讓他精神集中，不再惹事。

賈馬爾：音樂讓我不再在學(xué)校外面做壞事，讓我，這個(gè)，讓我可以讓其他同學(xué)看到，外面的世界很大，有很多很棒的事情可以做。翻譯：丁一

文化交流站

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills得克薩斯州必要的知識與技能（簡稱 TEKS）是美國得克薩斯州為一到十二年級學(xué)生設(shè)置的課程，所有的公立學(xué)校都必須遵守。對于課程中各年級要求的每項(xiàng)知識與技能，都會有全州統(tǒng)一的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)考試進(jìn)行測試。文章中提到的English and Language Arts是其中的一門課。

Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities總統(tǒng)藝術(shù)與人文委員會，簡稱PCAH，1982年由時(shí)任美國總統(tǒng)里根創(chuàng)立，旨在普及藝術(shù)人文知識、開展文化外交、通過藝術(shù)人文方式促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇和舉辦各項(xiàng)活動(dòng)。

IDEA 美國得克薩斯州一個(gè)創(chuàng)立于2000年的特許學(xué)校體系，共有29所學(xué)校。其目的是讓所有孩子都能上大學(xué)，迄今為止，已經(jīng)連續(xù)六年成功地讓所有畢業(yè)的高中生被大學(xué)錄取。