The Tennessee Arts Commission will host its second “Create2012: Creativity in Education Institute” July 15-18 at MTSU in partnership with the University’s College of Education.

Create2012 will focus on increasing creativity and collaboration in Tennessee schools. Sessions will be offered for K-12 classroom teachers, arts specialists, teaching artists, special-education and resource teachers as well as principals and superintendents.

“Our first institute (at MTSU in July 2011) was highly successful, and we welcomed 400 participants from Tennessee and seven other states,” said Rich Boyd, executive director of the Tennessee Arts Commission. “Before the first event concluded, participants were asking for a repeat in 2012.”

The Creativity in Education Institute emerged from the commission’s highly successful Value Plus Schools initiative, an arts-integration model with multi-year funding from the U.S. Department of Education.

The Value Plus initiative demonstrated how the arts affect students’ success by helping to close the achievement gap. Value Plus model schools made greater academic gains than the control schools, despite having larger number of economically disadvantaged students.

“Middle Tennessee State University is pleased to partner with the Tennessee Arts Commission and play host to the second annual Creativity in Education Institute this summer,” said MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. “MTSU is committed to developing well-rounded individuals who will become productive citizens in their communities. MTSU’s rich history in teacher training is only made better with this collaboration.”

Dr. Lana Seivers, dean of MTSU’s College of Education and a former state commissioner of education, added, “The College of Education welcomes the opportunity to work with our partners to provide professional development for educators from across the state. We are extremely pleased to be a part of this effort.”

For more information on Create2012, visit www.tn.gov/arts/create2012.html, or contact Ann Talbott Brown at ann.brown@tn.gov.