Abbott to Represent Weakley in State Arts Ed Network

Jacob Abbott

BY KAREN CAMPBELL

Weakley County Schools Communications Director

DRESDEN (October 21) - Jacob Abbott, music and theater teacher at Dresden High School, will represent Weakley County on the newly-formed State of the Arts: Arts Education Network and State of the Arts Study.

Through a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Education, CMA Foundation, and the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, the network claims as its mission “to better understand the inequities and barriers affecting the quality of arts education programming to better inform policymaking, district strategic planning, development of resources and support systems, and investment/philanthropic activities.” The first action of the group will be a first-of-its-kind statewide arts education landscape study. This analysis will identify the barriers preventing student access to high-quality programming, gaps in sequential K-12 pathways, and identification of the types of support needed at the school, district, and state level that would have the greatest impact on students.

Abbott, who has been part of the Weakley County Schools system since 2011, also directs the choir and the recently-established pop band.

“Jacob has a decade of experience here in Weakley County. He knows what it’s like to start and grow a program in a rural setting and that is a perspective that will be critically important as decisions are made regarding the future of arts education in Tennessee. We are pleased he has taken on this new role,” noted WCS Instructional Supervisor Donald Ray High.