The SAAA Project is establishing a creative, innovatie and intense learning model designed to bring quality research based professional development in arts integration to rural schools. These schools view themselves as living within a physical or psychological border in rural Southeastern Arizona. Teachers are trained to create an arts based learning environment which improves learning in the arts and all subject areas through intense professional development and collaboration with master teaching artists in dance, music, theater, visual art and creative writing. Teachers and artists collaboratively design learning experiences to be rich and complex for all learners, challenging and engaging them in multiple modalities and encouraging them to achieve, learn and grow as citizens. Through the learning tasks designed the project also seeks to create cultural understanding, enrich and empower students, schools and communities.

This ambitious project has been launched through a U S Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement, Professional Development for Arts Educators Program. It has received further support through the Dana Foundation in collaboration with Borderlands Theater in Tucson, AZ. The Theater has provided the sites with professional performances as well as workshops. This year, the Borderlands Theater Project will engage students in authentic writing, which is to be compiled into a script. This collage of student writing will be performed by professional actors and set in the environment of the student's digital photos.