Freeze is just one of the terms kids learned during Van Wezel’s Art Works for Schooltime Initiative summer program, which was funded by the Patterson Foundation. The program is influenced by the Par tners in Education program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and is based on the belief that teachers’ professional learning is an essential component of any effort designed to increase the artistic literacy of young people. In 2012, Kelli Maldonado joined the staff as Director of Education & Community Engagement at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, and with that influence in mind quickly began developing the Arts Initiative Program. “The goal of our program is to connect school time performances with a program that teachers, students, and parents, can use to explore content areas of language arts. To help support the Suncoast Campaign for Grade Level Reading, we launched this program three years ago in Sarasota County and, because we were having so much success, we wanted to expand into Manatee County,” explained Kelli. “We ��rst contacted Pam Parmenter at the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County. Pam helped us target sites that would feed into schools where students would be at the most risk for not meeting grade level reading objectives. We then narrowed that down to students that we hoped we would be able to have an impact on, and sites that had directors and teachers that would be excited and welcoming of using the arts, and these strategies, within their classroom.” “Preschool is enhanced by quality use of arts in the classroom. Manatee County students’ experiences are enhanced by The Van Wezel Performing Arts Center Education Program extension into Manatee County. Not only do the students learn more about things that may or may not be in their realm of daily experiences, but the quality of the teaching is affected by the input of new strategies to use throughout the year. We are so thankful for the sharing of this vital program with Manatee County providers,” said ELC’s Pam Parmenter. Once identifying four sites that ��t the criteria, Kelli introduced the teaching artists, Laura Courter and Christin Gambill, to the students at Children’s Nest Preschool, Education Time Child Care Service, TLC Day Care Center, and DC Childcare Center, Inc. Laura has been involved in Educational Children’s Theater for 25 years. Her degrees in Theatre Arts and English Education, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have led her into developing innovative children’s educational programming and curriculum design throughout her career. Laura has received teaching artist training through the Kennedy Center, as well as a multitude of organizations locally and nationally. “We design the program to engage the students,” said Laura. “I rarely have a student not wanting to try. We write lessons that are friendly, and make all Freeze is just one of the 55
20420PC
To see the actual publication please follow the link above