School arts coordinators retire satisfied with work

Berkeley district has come far in arts education

Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier

Berkeley County School District arts coordinators Meryl Weber and Frank Miley are retiring at the end of the school year. They coordinated their final art show for the district at Northwoods Mall, featuring artwork from all of the district's schools.

Frank Miley recalls one December where he attended 25 different holiday choral recitals and dance performances at schools across Berkeley County. Every year, Meryl Weber organizes an art display at the Northwoods Mall featuring more than 500 paintings and pottery pieces from the district's schools.

The packed schedules of Berkeley's two arts coordinators soon will clear. Both Weber and Miley, who started teaching the same year and were born only weeks apart, plan to retire in June. When they leave, the school district will lose a combined 64 years of arts education experience.

Weber, a former art teacher at a Charleston middle school, became the district's visual arts coordinator 18 years ago. Miley, who has spent his entire career in Berkeley as an elementary music teacher, middle school band instructor and high school band director, moved to his position as performing arts coordinator 11 years ago.

In their early years working together, the duo shared a cramped office. "I had to turn sideways just to get to my desk," Miley said.

Under their leadership, Berkeley started its only two magnet programs, both which boast arts themes. Howe Hall Arts Infused Magnet School and the more recent Marrington Middle School of the Arts have become popular options for artistically-talented children.

But the two coordinators hope their legacies extend beyond the magnet schools. Before Weber was hired, there was no district director to bring art teachers from different schools together to plan and network, she said. Miley said high school band teachers only met as a group about once per year and the district's arts programs as a whole lacked continuity. The coordinators worked to change that setup and to gain teachers' trust.

Weber recalled the "terrible shape" of below-standard art rooms in schools when she started her job compared to today's well-equipped facilities. She said many Berkeley schools, not just the magnet programs, have started to take the arts more seriously and that's because of the funding commitment from the district.

Miley said he thinks Berkeley is the only district in the state to employ separate coordinators for performing and visual arts. "This is a place where arts education is valued and respected," he said.

The two coordinators realize their successors have more projects to tackle, and they hope dance and drama instruction will soon come to elementary and middle schools. But both Weber and Miley said they feel comfortable retiring with the knowledge that the district's heightened emphasis on the arts has helped students like Sangaree Middle's Brad'lee Herian. Brad'lee, who is on probation through the Department of Juvenile Justice, was almost expelled. But he said he was inspired by his art teacher to paint a pink flower and was thrilled when his painting was selected for the Northwoods show. "When I am drawing, I don't think about anything else than what I am doing," he said.

Miley said arts classes have kept scores of kids in school and that's been one of the most rewarding parts of the job. "For some kids, the possibility of having their artwork displayed is really a lifesaver," he said. "I think my greatest accomplishment in this job is feeling that I've had a positive impact on the lives of some of these kids."

Reach Mindy B. Hagen at mhagen@postandcourier.com or 937-5433.