Joshua Chard is the Maine Department of Education arts integration teacher leader fellow. In 2024, he was named Maine Teacher of the Year. He teaches second grade in Portland.

Every March, schools across Maine celebrate Arts in the Schools Month. From Kittery to Presque Isle, student artwork fills hallways, concerts draw families into auditoriums and school plays bring communities together. These moments are worth celebrating. But the arts in our schools are more than performances and displays; they are a powerful way for students to make sense of the world.

Too often, the arts are treated as extras, something added when there’s time left after the “real” subjects. In reality, the arts help students access those subjects. In classrooms across Maine, including my own in Portland, students draw, move, act, write and compose not as a break from learning, but as a pathway into it. For multilingual learners, for students with varied abilities, and for children who may not always see themselves reflected in traditional instruction, the arts create common ground. They offer entry points. They make rigorous content reachable.

This is what arts integration means. It is the intentional teaching of academic content through artistic processes, so students learn both simultaneously. A math class might explore symmetry through drawing. A science lesson might involve sketching plants along the Presumpscot River to observe structure and function. A history unit might become a living museum where students speak as people from Maine’s past.

Students write poetry and set it to music, record podcasts or collaborate on murals about their neighborhoods. They ask deeper questions because they care about the outcome. The arts make learning active instead of passive. The goal isn’t decoration or entertainment. It’s understanding.

The arts strengthen memory and comprehension. We remember what we experience. When students act out a concept, design it or explore it through rhythm and sound, they build stronger connections in the brain. They analyze, problem-solve and think creatively, often without realizing they are practicing complex skills. Arts integration does not lower rigor; it makes rigor accessible. Expectations remain high. The pathway simply widens.

The arts also nurture social and emotional growth. When students create together, they listen differently. They consider perspectives beyond their own. They revise ideas, compromise and take risks. In a time when young people in Maine, like young people everywhere, need a sense of belonging and connection, the arts help build both. A classroom where students create together becomes a classroom where students feel seen.

Just as importantly, the arts provide more students with a way in. Not every child communicates best through writing or tests. Some think visually. Some physically. Some musically. When learning includes multiple ways to demonstrate understanding, more students succeed and see themselves as capable. Confidence grows alongside knowledge.

For Maine’s schools and communities, supporting the arts is about preparing students for the future. Creativity, collaboration, communication and flexible thinking are not abstract ideals; they are the skills adults use every day in workplaces, civic life and community leadership. The arts are where children first practice them.

Arts in the Schools Month reminds us to celebrate what students create. It should also remind us why it matters. The arts are not separate from reading, math, science or history. They are another language for learning.

When we nurture the arts in Maine’s public schools, we aren’t just protecting a program. We are expanding what is possible for every child — and strengthening the future of our communities in the process.