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Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance Launches Initiative Highlighting Civics Issues

PHILADELPHIA  (CBS) -- The greater Philadelphia cultural alliance recently launched a new initiative highlighting the impact of arts and culture on various civics issues.

This year's agenda will focus on the benefits of art in early childhood education. CBS 3's Vittoria Woodill went back to school in Fairmount for a look at the program in action.

Art was in motion at Mi Casita preschool in Fairmount.

Melissa Page, Owner of Mi Casita Immersion pre-school said, "Mi Casita is a Spanish immersion pre-k, but we do more than speak Spanish, we really do create authentic art in the classrooms everyday of the week. You can see they get totally lost in their work"

Sure these Preschoolers we're grabbing the brush by the horns and getting messy.

One student said,"I get a little dirty but I don't cry!"

It's this artistic engagement that has the greater Philadelphia cultural alliance focusing on the pre-k age, using their advocacy tool agenda: pre-k, to outline how powerful arts and culture can be when even put into the tiniest hands.

Maud Lyon President of Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance said, "From birth the way we learn is through sound music and color the art is how a two-year old learns."

She said, "we know that pre-k kids that have arts programs have three times the vocabulary that other kids don't we now that they have 60% better emotional social skills, which means they want to learn, and they're able to learn, and they learn faster.

Lyon said, "There are all kinds of programs that parents can take advantage of, and that sets the stage for the learning for the rest of their lives."

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