Teachers are preparing to welcome their students back to school on Aug. 13.
About 500 Palm Beach County school teachers in drama, dance, music and visual arts were at the Kravis Center on Tuesday for a series of workshops.
MORE: Read more back to school news
K-12 Arts Education Administrator Edrick Rhodes says the workshops allow for teachers to learn about new strategies and programs that could help enrich their students.
“Arts gives students a well-rounded education, it gives them a sense of understanding our culture," Rhodes said. "It gives them exposure to things that they’ve never had before."
Elaine Weeks is an art teacher at Marsh Pointe Elementary and says her art teacher inspired her to become an artist and hopes through her teachings, she can inspire kids too.
“We want to have renaissance students. We don’t want them to just be excellent at one thing," Weeks said. "I would want my lawyer, my doctor, my professional to enjoy the beauty of a piece of art, or the opera, or a dance recital."
This fall voters in Palm Beach County will decide whether or not to renew a tax to fund 650 teaching positions for the arts and choice programs. If the tax isn’t passed, the district says all of those teachers could lose their jobs.