Erin Murray & Jane OBrien

When rap music was introduced…

当学校引入饶舌音乐……

（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.

（饶舌音乐）

你能猜得到这个音乐视频其实是一份英语作业吗？

嗯，确实是的，这个作业旨在帮助那些在英语和语言艺术这门课表现一般的学生。

詹姆斯·吉布森（米申IDEA项目）：音乐不仅仅对学生的写作有帮助，而且对学生说话也有帮助，如口头表达、语调等许多不同的方面，而这些技能实际上是得克萨斯州必要的知识与技能的一部分，按它的要求，学生参加全州考试时需要掌握这些技能。

来认识一下胡安·梅扎和奥马尔·西莱顿。他们是高中音乐视频“星期一”里的明星，不过，这两位饶舌歌手原来可不是什么好学生。

胡安：……比如不集中精神，表现差，还有无礼，等等。

奥马尔：我参加的所有测验、考试，从来就没有及格过，一次都没有，永远都是不及格，不及格。

可是，当他们可以通过自己喜欢的饶舌音乐来学习英语，他们的态度和观念完全变了。

胡安：呃，一开始我很兴奋，我当时想，哦，这可是我第一次拍摄制作音乐视频。我小时候就很想成为像阿姆那样的饶舌歌手。（饶舌音乐：我最棒，我总能把事情完成得很好。）

就这样，在詹姆斯的协助下，参加米申IDEA英语课学习的学生制作了一个饶舌音乐视频，宣传积极的学习态度。

詹姆斯：学生们现在说的话都让人感到惊讶。胡安和奥马尔在谈论上大学的事，他们在讨论怎么样努力学习，还谈论他们自己的文化，但都是一些正面的东西。

胡安说他永远都会记得这段经历。

胡安：我来到这里后，嗯，发生的事情改变了我的生活……

记者：嗯。

胡安：因为，这个嘛，这所学校是真正地关心我们。

当保安退出，艺术进门……

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.

故事听起来就像是一部好莱坞电影里的情节：找一所正在走下坡路的学校，引入表演艺术课，然后就可以看到学校的转变了。

事情当然不会那么简单，但几年前，兰园学校可是一所与现在非常不一样的学校。校园内的暴力行为是常态，学生携枪上学，老师在这里也呆不长。13岁的贾马尔说他自己就是经常惹事的人之一。他说是艺术改变了他的生活，如今，他的画作赢得了不少奖。

贾马尔：我对画画产生了兴趣，它能让我平静下来。不管什么时候，比如说心烦，所以如果我不高兴，我就会去画。

三年前，新校长安德鲁·博特到这所学校上任，艺术教学成了学校里众人关注的焦点。他的第一把火就是解雇学校保安，用省下来的钱去请艺术老师。

安德鲁：当时很多人说，等一下，等过了一年再取消安保，慢慢地让艺术老师进入学校，让保安渐渐地退出，这些需要一个过程。可我从全局考虑，觉得大动作、大胆的作为，一次性落实这些措施最明智。如果我们要进行变革，一次性处理所有问题会更好。

画外音：……甚至可以开始把照片搬到大张的水彩画纸上。

政府有一个测试艺术教育能否真正起作用的项目。如今，这所学校是参与这个项目的学校之一。

雷切尔·戈斯林斯（总统艺术与人文委员会）：在过去的十年里确实出了许多科学研究成果。对数万名来自低收入家庭的学生多年纵观的研究表明，参与艺术活动的低收入家庭的学生的高出勤率是其他不参与这些活动的学生的三倍，他们参与学生社团或学生会活动的机率则是四倍。他们当中成绩好，能上四年制本科大学的比例相当高。

全国有八所学校在两年里可以得到两百万美元的拨款，专门用于进行艺术教育，兰园学校正是其中之一。这可不仅仅是打造一个高质量的艺术教程这么简单，而是要把艺术当成教育的一个基本工具。

除了画画之外，贾马尔还发现自己对音乐也有兴趣，他说乐器练习可以让他精神集中，不再惹事。

贾马尔：音乐让我不再在学校外面做坏事，让我，这个，让我可以让其他同学看到，外面的世界很大，有很多很棒的事情可以做。翻译：丁一

文化交流站

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills得克萨斯州必要的知识与技能（简称 TEKS）是美国得克萨斯州为一到十二年级学生设置的课程，所有的公立学校都必须遵守。对于课程中各年级要求的每项知识与技能，都会有全州统一的标准考试进行测试。文章中提到的English and Language Arts是其中的一门课。

Presidents Committee on the Arts and the Humanities总统艺术与人文委员会，简称PCAH，1982年由时任美国总统里根创立，旨在普及艺术人文知识、开展文化外交、通过艺术人文方式促进经济复苏和举办各项活动。

IDEA 美国得克萨斯州一个创立于2000年的特许学校体系，共有29所学校。其目的是让所有孩子都能上大学，迄今为止，已经连续六年成功地让所有毕业的高中生被大学录取。