We won the College Board’s 2011 Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts!
“The selection committee was very impressed with how the program connects students with their community and with professional artists,” said College Board Coordinator Erica Selah. “The Immune System is a testament to the kind of positive impact that high expectations for all students can have on their learning.” The College Board has issued Heritage High School a $3,000 monetary award to support the continuation of the program, and Mr. Emmert was invited to speak at the College Board’s Annual Forum in San Francisco.
Quothe the Evergreen School District:
In 2009, Lee Emmert introduced the IMMUNE SYSTEM to encourage the educational community to recognize the importance of arts education as an integral component of an interdisciplinary education. By encouraging community engagement and through the use of multimedia, high school students from Washington state engage in conversations with University of Oregon college students and professional artists about their experiences.
The IMMUNE SYSTEM has also coupled its emphasis on arts education with an emphasis on community service. For the past two years, photography students have submitted work for the Spontaneous Smiley charity and raised hundreds of dollars towards cleft palate surgeries for children in need. Students completing mandatory senior projects in community service have the opportunity to do photojournalism projects on socially significant topics and to donate works of art that promote local nonprofits. Emmert’s IMMUNE SYSTEM connects students to an artistic community that supports them, challenges them, and pushes them to excel.
See the Evergreen School District announcement HERE
and the College Board announcement HERE