Arts get a boost in Nebo

Julie Christofferson wanted to play the flute as a child but ended up with her brother's discarded trumpet.

"This was back in the '60s," she said. "Girls didn't play the trumpet."

Christofferson started to teach herself to play it, however, and during the summer between fourth and fifth grades attended a band camp.

There, she recalls, the teacher and a saxophone player insulted her.

"The teacher said, 'Do you really want to play that thing?' I was hurt," she said. But she was also determined. "That was the last day I wanted to play the flute. I never wanted to play the flute again."

Soon, Christofferson will help Nebo School District teachers find ways for students to express themselves artistically — however they want to do it.

In July, Christofferson will start work as a fine arts specialist in Nebo District. The newly created position — part of Nebo's curriculum department — is similar to one she has now in Jordan School District.

While new to Nebo, Christofferson is a veteran. She will retire from her Jordan post in June after 30 years as an instrumental music instructor, assistant principal and district administrator.

Christofferson will help teachers implement the state arts core curriculum, coordinate a partnership between Nebo and Brigham Young University's School of Education, and lead staff development in the arts, said Nedra Call, Nebo's curriculum director.

"She helped design the state core," Call said. "She brings expertise as well as state contacts."

Most elementary schools in Nebo do not have music, dance or drama teachers. It's the same in Jordan, Christofferson said.

Arts education falls on regular classroom teachers, who are under pressure to teach students math, reading and other subjects for standardized tests, Christofferson said.

"We hope to help teachers to understand how to incorporate this without being overburdened," she said. "We need to be sensitive, and I hope I can help."

Christofferson offers as an example the common phrase seen in literature — "the wind was rustling through the trees." Not many young children understand the word "rustling," but they could interpret it through movement.

"(The arts) really help you become a real human being," Christofferson said.