Jigsaw Instructional Method

Katy-area nonprofit art group could be impacted by state cuts

Cutbacks at the Texas Commission on the Arts may mean the end to some types of state grants that helped a Katy nonprofit group provide a monthly concert series and an art festival, the group's leader said.

Slashes to the state commission's budget will cut in half the available funding for grants, said Terri Bieber , founder/executive director of ARTreach. The TCA now funds almost 1,400 recipients, she said.

The general appropriations bill signed by Gov. Rick Perry on June 17 includes $3.7 million for each of the next two years for the commission. That will mean a 50 percent reduction to the grants budget and a 30 percent staff reduction, according to the TCA website.

In 2011, the TCA provided $5,625 in grants to ARTreach for programs supporting education, health and human services, cultural tourism and economic development.

"The last announcement we received in June from TCA was that TCA funding would be prioritized to support educational programs, but funding for cultural tourism and economic development would not be available for at least two years," Bieber said. "This is good enough news. The worst news would have been if the TCA has been eliminated all together."

Although the dollar amount from TCA is not high, "our listing on their roster is what is important," Bieber said. "TCA provides leverage opportunities for us, and clarifies to potential funders and individuals that we are an organization that meets very high standards."

ARTreach projects in Katy that supported cultural tourism and economic development included Art on the Lake, an art festival, and the Texas Music Project, a monthly concert series. Awards totaling $3,125 helped bring Del Castillo to perform in Katy in March, the Inner City All Stars in January and  State Artist Sara Hickman in February.

School grants

In 2011, Morton Ranch and Cardiff junior high schools each received grants from the TCA. Each school is categorized as Title I, which is noted in the grant award and meets with ARTreach’s goal of reaching underserved student populations.

According to the Katy Independent School District, Title I is a federally funded program that provides supplemental instructional support to low-income students exhibiting academic need in reading, language arts and/or mathematics.

Morton Ranch Junior High School teacher Crystal Andrus successfully applied for a $1,120 TCA grant, which was matched by the school for the $2,240 cultural arts project and helped students create a mural in the main hallway at the campus, 2498 N. Mason Road.

Yezenia: Jigsaw

Our team strategy was fairly simple to comprehend, however our presentation requirements were difficult to understand. We were familiar with the instructional method of Jigsaw, and had a basic understand of how we could integrate technology. That being said, we constructed a “how-to” document on the implementation of Jigsaw. Eventually, and after many hours of brainstorming and exploration of web 2.0, we decided to include pod casts (i.e., podbean). Overall, we feel as though our Jigsaw Instructional Strategy can be universally utilized, as well as comprehended. It is a great template for all age groups and it can cover a variety of subjects. If we could change one thing about our project, we would have incorporated WebQuest, into the Jigsaw Learning Strategy, more. In  the end, this project was a valuable tool in understanding the complexities of integrating technology into various learning strategies.

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