June 1–4, 2015
Course Catalog woodruffcenter.org/edconference | 404.733.4703
Preconference Session Descriptions
The Early Childhood Educator Preconference on June 1st is a day designed for educators working with preschool and Pre-Kindergarten aged children. Sessions offered will showcase the Woodruff Arts Center’s field trips and school programs for preschool and Pre-K classes, including Alliance Theater for the Very Young, Toddler Thursday at the High Museum, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music for the Very Young, and in-school performances! In addition, facilitators will share a variety of classroom-ready techniques and strategies to enhance your existing curriculum.
Theatre Visual Arts Music
Bringing Children’s Books to Life Mama Koku 11:45 am–12:45 pm
Participants will learn to encourage a love of reading in young children with this session on brushing up your presentation skills. The activities that you create in tandem with children’s literature should bring books to life for children. Participants will be able to implement various storytelling and reading techniques to better engage and involve children in developmentally appropriate picture books and oral stories. This workshop will focus on expressive reading, interpretation of literature, 2
physical handling of books during story time, discussion of literature with children and crafts that can be used to support specific works of literature.
A Year of Art for the Pre-K Child Deirdra Alexander 11:45 am–12:45 pm
Find out what happens in one year of art for preschool students with educator and Teaching Artist Deirdra Alexander! Deirdra will share progressive lessons that are designed to build both small motor skills and critical thinking skills in young students through a guided visual art program. Exploring tools and techniques, students
gain confidence through the development of critical thinking and problemsolving skills. Participants will walk away with new resources and tools for teaching in the early childhood classroom.
Self-Regulation Through Drama Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran 1:30–2:30 pm
This interactive workshop will explore several Alliance Institute Drama Activities specifically designed to assist young children in the development of self-regulation while encouraging them to experience imaginative play and social interaction. Participants will engage in the activities and then
reflect together on how each can be applied in their own teaching.
Reading Art for the Emerging Reader Ester Smith 1:30–2:30 pm
Together we’ll learn how to guide our students in looking at and talking about visual art. We will explore a few Artful Thinking Routines from Harvard’s Project Zero and see how they are practical and easily adaptable. These simple exercises will strengthen early literacy and communication skills as well as promote cognitive development in our young learners. Discussion will also address how and when reading visual art will best complement teachers’ individual teaching styles and their preschool settings.
Let Them Sing! Active Learning Through Music and Movement Julie Austin 2:45–3:45 pm
When children are moving, singing, gesturing and smiling, their brains are processing and integrating important information. In this session participants will learn songs that invite children to participate actively while encouraging creativity and promoting classroom community. This is a sing-along, movealong workshop filled with musical movement and ways to engage all children during circle time and throughout the day.
STEM Storybasket Claire Ritzler 2:45–3:45 pm
Watch Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math come alive in front of your students very eyes with this storytelling strategy. Engage early learners with Georgia Wolf Trap’s Story Basket technique and it is sure to be memorable. 3
Participants may register for up to four conference sessions. Additionally, all conference attendees will participate in two Art Experience sessions (marked by an asterisk). The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra art experience will be available for everyone on Tuesday afternoon. The Alliance Theatre performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical and High Museum gallery tours will be offered Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, and Wednesday afternoon.
7 Art Bots: Integrating STEAM into the Classroom
6th–8th
7 Arts Integration in the Middle School English Classroom: Doodling, Comic-Booking, and Set-Building!
6th–8th
9 Don’t Let the Pigeon Run this Story!
K–2nd
9 Drumming UP Cognition!
K–12th
10 Focus Play ‘mini’ Workshop: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical
K–2nd
* High Museum of Art gallery tour and performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical 12 Newspaper Theatre: Using Drama to Teach Social Studies
K–5th
13 Presenting the Inclusive Visual Arts Experience
K–5th
13 Reaching All Our Students
K–5th
14 Resurrecting Research - Dramaturgy in the Classroom 14 STEAM Teams 15 Story Power: Strategies for Integrating Storytelling 15 Tell Me My Dream: Making Theatre for Middle Schoolers
Tuesday PM * Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Preview 4
9th–12th K–5th K–5th 6th–12th
Literac y/ Social Studie s Assess ment & Evalu ation S choo l Clima te A rts Ad vo c a c y
Tuesday AM
Grade Level
21st Ce ntury S kills STE A M
Page
* Art Experence session
Dif fere nti Learnin ated g
Focus Areas
8 Digital Storytelling
Grade Level 6th–12th
9 Drama and Science - Really?
K–5th
9 Drumming UP Cognition!
K–12th
10 Four Rivers Model of Storytelling© 10 From the Stage to the Page: History Analysis and Writing Though Ensemble Movement Theatre-Making 11 Getting Physical with Collaborative Art
Literac y/ Social Studie s Assess ment & Evalu ation S choo l Clima te A rts Ad vo c a c y
Wednesday AM
21st Ce ntury S kills STE A M
Page
The Woodruff Arts Center Educator Conference provides educators with high-level professional learning through and in the arts. Participants will preview the exciting works from the Woodruff Arts Center Teaching Artists, experience world-class music performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, see an Alliance Theatre performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, and explore the galleries of the High Museum of Art.
Dif fere nti Learnin ated g
Focus Areas
Conference Session Index
K–5th 6th–12th K–2nd
* High Museum of Art gallery tour and performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical 12 Let’s Tell a Story! Imagining, Creating, and Dramatizing Orignial Stories with Children
K–2nd
16 The Things We Carry: A Multimodal Composition in the Tangible and Intangible
9th–12th
16 Theatre and Math with Young Children - STEAM
K–2nd
16 Using Drama to Assess Reading Comprehension
6th–8th
17 What’s Happening, Habsburg? Investigating Trend-Setting Fashion for European Armor in the 15th Century
6th–8th
Wednesday PM 7 Celebrating and Bridging Cultural Difference, Communication and Learning Styles Through Theatre in Your Multicultural Classroom
6th–12th
8 Digital Storytelling
6th–12th
9 Drumming UP Cognition!
K–12th
9 Exploring the Play: Theatre for Youth and Families Production
K–5th
9 Filling in the Gaps: Secondary Music Education and 21st Century Learners
9–12th
10 Four Rivers Model of Storytelling©
K–5th
10 Geometric Transformations in Nature, Art, and Industry
K–5th
11 Getting Physical with Collaborative Art
K–2nd
* High Museum of Art gallery tour and performance of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical 14 STEAM and Design Thinking
K–5th
16 To Sit or Not to Sit, That is the Question - Designers Have the Answer
K–5th
16 Using Drama to Assess Reading Comprehension Drumming UP Cognition!
6th–8th
5
7 Art Bots: Integrating STEAM into the Classroom
K–5th
7 Celebrating and Bridging Cultural Difference, Communication and Learning Styles Through Theatre in Your Multicultural Classroom
6th–12th
8 Communicating with Flamenco
6th–12th
8 Creativity Infusion 11 Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections 11 Inquiry Investigations: Incorporating STEAM and PBL in Your Teaching
K–12th 9th–12th K–5th
12 Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical Production Elements 12 Material Rescue: Design, Sustainability, + Lighting
9th–12th
13 No Mistakes! Tapping into a Child’s Development through Playful Improvisation
K–12th
13 Reaching All Our Students
K–5th
14 STEAMed Stories: A Chipmunk’s Tale 17 Voices in Motion: Using Poetry and Dance in the Classroom 17 Weaving Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts into Your Classroom
K–2nd 6th–12th K–2nd
Thursday PM 7 Collaboration in Music: Simple Games, Strategies, and Skill Development
K–5th
8 Digging Deeper into Universal Design for Learning
K–5th
9 Don’t Let the Pigeon Run this Story!
K–5th
10 Georgia Wolf Trap/Alliance Theatre Institute: Learning through Drama for the English Language Learner 11 History, Humor, and the Habsburgs
K–5th 6th–8th
12 Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Production Elements
6
12 Newspaper Theatre: Using Drama to Teach Social Studies
K–5th
13 No Mistakes! Tapping into a Child’s Development through Playful Improvisation
K–12th
13 Readers Theatre Across the Curriculum
K–5th
14 STEAM Heat: Art and Math Infusion in Perspective
K–12th
14 STEAMed Stories: Rising to the Challenge
K–5th
15 Storytelling Through Indian Dance
K–8th
17 Voices in Motion: Using Poetry and Dance in the Classroom
6th–12th
17 Write Through the Points of View of Historical/Literary Characters and their Conflicts 17 What's Happening, Habsburg?
9th–12th 9th - 12th
A r eas
Conference Session Descriptions
Art Bots: Integrating STEAM into the Classroom Shannon Mulkey Tues. & Thurs. AM
Designing and making Artbots combines innovation, creative thinking, engineering, and electronics. Artbots can be a doorway to basic engineering and design skills, as well as the development of troubleshooting and problem solving strategies. Designing robots encourages tinkering, prototyping, and trialand-error in individual or collaborative settings. In this interactive session, participants will be able to create their own Artbot and brainstorm ways to bring this innovative technique into their classroom.
Arts Integration in the Middle School English Classroom: Doodling, ComicBooking, and SetBuilding! Liz Davis Tues. AM
This session will focus on the different ways teachers can utilize the arts in their middle school English classrooms to engage students and build
Fo c u s
Literac y/ Social Studie s Assess ment & Evalu ation S choo l Clima te A rts Ad vo c a c y
Grade Level
21st Ce ntury S kills STE A M
Thursday AM
Focus Areas Dif fere nti Learnin ated g
Page
Conference Session Index
deep understanding of plot, setting, character, poetic device, and theme in works studied. During this session, teachers will explore best practices for integrating Visual Arts and Theatre with English/ Literacy instruction, including: Doodling to Visualize Poetry, ComicBooking to Summarize Plot, and Set-Building to Dramatize Literature. Participants will have the opportunity to try these techniques and think about how to apply them in lesson planning and implementation. Drawing upon her experience working with teaching artists from Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, Liz will also discuss co-teaching with a professional teaching artist from the classroom teacher’s perspective.
Differentiated Learning Assessment & Evaluation 21st Century Skills School Climate STEAM Literacy/Social Studies Arts Advocacy
constructing a creative and supportive multicultural learning environment. The participants of this workshop will explore storytelling and creative movement strategies that can help dissolve the impediment of language and cultural barriers. In applying these skills, participants will achieve empowering connections between teachers, students, and their families. This workshop focuses on how to negotiate meaning through theatre and movement creative task-based interactions.
Collaboration in Music: Simple Games, Strategies, and Skill Development Janice Crews Thurs. PM
Celebrating and Bridging Cultural Difference, Communication and Learning Styles Through Theatre in Your Multicultural Classroom Polly Garcia Wed. PM & Thurs. AM
This workshop will present theatre tools and strategies to assist in
Lead your students to discover what collaboration really is through experiential learning. In this session, educators will explore simple hands-on strategies for teaching collaboration skills using music and the art of play, with direct ties to literacy and storytelling. Participants will identify the many characteristics of collaboration through games that inspire the creation of pattern, 7
structured sentences, and poetry. Adaptations can be made for almost any curriculum. No music background is necessary.
Communicating with Flamenco Julie Baggenstoss Thurs. AM
Flamenco is an improvised art form in which all participants have to listen, watch, and react to create dance and music together. Team work, non-verbal cues and music provide opportunities for participants to collaborate, coordinate, solve problems, lead and support each other during the improvisation process. Participants in this session will learn the basics of Flamenco dance and music and how to use them to emphasize 21st century skills in the classroom.
Creativity Infusion Barry Stewart Mann, Jeff Mather,Tiffany Mingo, Adriana Van Rensburg, & Raymond Veon Thurs. AM
Creativity is a national socio-economic priority, a 21st Century Skill, and a primary means for infusing personal relevance and rigor into learning through intrinsic motivation. Studies show a steady decrease in student creativity even 8
as the need for arts and creativity in classrooms has grown. How can we teach for creativity in an over-crowded curricular day? What cognitive skills, experiences and instructional practices are most effective? The Creativity Infusion session is a multidisciplinary framework that offers answers and a framework for planning curriculum, instruction and assessment. Participants will take a closer look at Creativity Infusion through a blend of hands-on experiences, theoretical approaches, and personal engagement. Come prepared to move, engage, and share!
Digging Deeper into Universal Design for Learning Jaehn Clare Thurs. PM
This session is designed to explore the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) deeper, and in more detail. It is offered as a follow-on to those who participated in the “Reaching All Our Students” session during the 2014 WAC Educator’s Conference, or who have had other specific training working with UDL. The UDL principles of Engagement,
Representation, and Action & Expression will be explored through participatory arts activities (drama, visual art, and music). This is not an introductory session, and it is not appropriate for those who are utterly unfamiliar with UDL as it will not involve explanation of the basics.
Digital Storytelling Daryl FuNn Wed. AM & PM
Digital storytelling is a written personal narrative that is presented using digital technology. Participants will learn the value of a digital story as a tool for exploring curricular themes, self-identity, community, or empathy. Participants will be led through the writing process using various prompts to craft their narrative. Next, the facilitators will instruct the group on recording their voices onto the digital equipment and adding images that help to tell their stories. The final touches are to add music and transitions.
Don’t Let the Pigeon Run this Story! Teri Holbrook and Nicole PourchieR Tues. AM & Thurs. PM
Mo Willems’s beloved pigeon lives in two worlds—the paper and ink world of books and the interactive world of apps. In this session, participants will engage in both, examining how the author/illustrator has made the pigeon a compelling character in print and in pixels. Enacting a “parallel pedagogy” that considers how writing is created across media, participants will create stories in small groups using apps as well as conventional storymaking materials. They will discuss their experiences, making connections to teaching 21st century literacies in their classrooms. This session ties in with the upcoming exhibition Seriously Silly: A Decade of Art and Whimsy by Mo Willems,opening at the High in May.
Drama and Science - Really? Barry Stewart Mann Wed. AM
Drama and Science? Really? It may seem like a long way from Experiments to Experimental Theatre,
A r eas Fo c u s
Conference Session Descriptions
but there are a variety of drama and storytelling strategies that can smoothly and elegantly engage students in the wonder and magic of scientific inquiry, history, and knowledge. Through a combination of theory and numerous participatory examples, we will explore how to tell the stories and enact the dramas of moments of invention and discovery; how to turn science content into engaging original scenarios; how to use folklore as a model of scientific inquiry and explanation; and how to imagine and create integrated lessons and units.
Drumming UP Cognition! Dave Holland Wed. PM
Differentiated Learning Assessment & Evaluation 21st Century Skills School Climate STEAM Literacy/Social Studies Arts Advocacy
curriculum standards. Session to include rhythm games, kinesthetic movement activities and strategies for effective processing and reflection.
Exploring the Play: Theatre for Youth and Families Production Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran Wed. PM
Step behind the curtain and get an insider’s view of the Alliance Theatre’s Theatre for Youth and Families production for 2015-16. This interactive workshop includes everything from reading the script and enacting scenes to in-depth drama strategies, all through the lens of the Core Curriculum that link the play to your students.
Discover the latest research, hear powerful case studies and experience hands-on activities designed to help boost your students’ cognitive development. This session explores a variety of ways in which interactive rhythm can be effectively integrated into the classroom to create more conscious awareness and a deeper connection to learning objectives and
Filling in the Gaps: Secondary Music Education and 21st Century Learners Robert Truan Wed. PM
In this interactive session targeted for secondary music educators, participants will think about all of the things that was not covered in your college curriculum. What does 9
it mean to teach the 21st century music learner? What challenges do we all face in the classroom and with our administration? Content knowledge, organization, musicianship, rapport with students (and administration!), and work ethics will be covered in this informative and engaging session.
Focus Play “Mini” Workshop: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran Tues. AM
This “mini” Focus Play Workshop will offer educators the opportunity to get an insider’s view of the Alliance Theatre’s production Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, which all Conference participants will get a chance to see. Participants will read portions of the play, discuss themes and curriculum connections, interact with drama activities related to the play, and discover production elements provided by the director, Rosemary Newcott.
Four Rivers Model of Storytelling© Dr. David Gonzalez Wed. AM & PM
10
The Four Rivers Model of Storytelling was created by David Gonzalez to teach his style of multi-modal performance. In this model the four distinct elements of communication; language, voice, gesture, and imagination, are seen as independent “rivers” which flow together. By learning this model, participants will learn how to enrich communication with imaginative confluence in order to create stories that stick.
From the Stage to the Page: History Analysis and Writing Though Ensemble Movement Theatre-Making Polly Garcia and Ebony Tucker Wed. AM
They say history has a way of repeating itself. That statement has proven itself to be true with recent civil rights issues. In this workshop you will learn drama & movement techniques that can be used to explore writing about various complex topics through collaborative work and constructive criticism. The Civil Rights movement in The United States and current diverse human rights issues, will be the content for this
workshop full of lesson plans you should be able to implement in the classroom.
Geometric Transformations in Nature, Art, and Industry Marquetta JohnsoN Wed. PM
Grant. The participants will interact with the vetted drama and teaching strategies appropriate for English Language Learners of multiple grades and abilities. Drama Strategies will include Interactive Read Aloud, Teacher in Role and Choral Reader’s Theatre.
In this workshop, participants will explore principles of Geometric Transformations to further students understanding of fractions and equivalent fractions. Using images from nature, along with inspiration from wearable art designs from the High’s upcoming exhibition Habsburg Splendor, teachers will explore and create Paper Tiles demonstrating the principles of geometric transformation in fractional formats.
Georgia Wolf Trap/Alliance Theatre Institute: Learning Through Drama for the English Language Learner Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran Thurs. PM
This interactive session will explore the drama strategies developed during the 3 year Georgia Wolf Trap ELL Arts Model
Getting Physical with Collaborative Art Deirdra Alexander Wed. AM & PM
In this session, participants will see how getting the whole body involved in paint generates excitement and engagement in learning—and it doesn’t need to make a mess! We will be painting on the floor, dancing with our feet, exploring a little science and problem solving as we make beautiful collaborative art.
Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections Agnes Stillfried Thurs. AM
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the six largest museums in the world and houses the magnificent former imperial
A r eas Fo c u s
Conference Session Descriptions
collections, assembled by members of the House of Habsburg over six hundred years. Using artworks from the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, this session offers a comprehensive overview of the history of the House of Habsburg from Middle Ages to the end of their Empire—after all, for more than five centuries the history of the Habsburgs was European history as they ruled not only modern-day Austria but also most of Germany and central Europe, Spain and parts of Italy, France, Holland and Belgium. The session will focus both on relevant events in European history and on individual Habsburg collectors and their contribution to the rich holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In addition, this session will look at some of these magnificent artworks and their production (armor, tapestries, and more), and discuss changing tastes in and reasons for collecting as well as how artworks commissioned by these imperial patrons functioned as elements of imperial propaganda/ representation, reflecting contemporary society and its aspirations. Educators will walk away with a comprehensive overview
Differentiated Learning Assessment & Evaluation 21st Century Skills School Climate STEAM Literacy/Social Studies Arts Advocacy
of the works that will be coming to the High Museum in Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections, October 18, 2015-January 17, 2016.
History, Humor, and the Habsburgs Karin Mervis Thurs. PM
In this interactive workshop, teachers will be able to explore the visual wit of 16th century Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, as seen in the upcoming Fall exhibition Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections at the High Museum. We will make connections between the Italian masters and today’s contemporary artists, such as Vik Muniz and create our own mixed media self-portrait. You will walk away with lesson plans and ideas to incorporate into your own curriculum.
11
Inquiry Investigations: Incorporating STEAM and PBL in Your Teaching Lauren Philips and Patricia Spencer Thurs. AM
Two elementary art teachers will share how they teach STEAM and PBL in their schools. From Design Thinking, to different models of inquiry, to choice-based art for differentiated learning, teachers will learn strategies for incorporating the arts into meaningful learning experiences in all subject areas. Teachers will have an opportunity to use different media while exploring the High’s contemporary art collection. Lesson plans and resources will be shared.
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical Production Elements Thurs. AM & PM
Take an insider’s look at the Alliance Theatre’s production of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical by exploring a production element of the show.
12
Let’s Tell a Story! Imagining, Creating, and Dramatizing Orignial Stories with Children Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran Wed. AM
Join Kim Baran, a Master Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, as you create an original story with young children using step by step story creation strategies and drama techniques designed to deepen children’s 21st century skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. Participants in this interactive workshop will use best practices to guide children to create and dramatize a new story. Strategies include using representational objects to determine story elements; chants and songs; asking guided questions and creative drama to become a character or visualize a setting using body, voice and imagination.
Material Rescue: Design, Sustainability, and Lighting Raja Schaar & Catherine Muller Thurs. AM
Material Rescue is an interactive STEAM
workshop with an interdisciplinary focus on Design and Product Lifecycle Analysis. After a brief presentation on Product Lifecycle Analysis and background on the marine impact of discarded plastics, attendees will team up to conceptualize and prototype a new “lightingdevice” made from discarded, repurposed, recycled, found or locally-sourced plastics. The aim of this project is to create a second life for the discarded materials and/or products using sustainable design strategies. Educators from Science, Social Studies, Visual Arts, Design, and Engineering, will find ties to their classroom curriculum, all inspired by the High’s permanent collection.
Newspaper Theatre: Using Drama to Teach Social Studies Ebony Tucker Tues. AM & Thurs. PM
Are you looking for a fun and creative way to spice up your Social Studies and Science lessons? Newspaper Theatre is a system of techniques devised to give the audience a way to transform daily
news articles or any non-dramatic pieces to theatrical scenes. We’ll use various forms of media (pictures, music, and videos) and drama to explore the content of classroom relevant children’s books and articles. You will leave feeling confident enough to implement Newspaper theatre into your classroom and your students will thank you later because you did!
No Mistakes! Tapping into a Child’s Development through Playful Improvisation Dave Holland Thurs. AM & PM
Creating an environment where a student can freely explore the possibilities of a particular subject matter without the fear of making mistakes has been shown to build both cognitive classroom.development, problem solving strategies, and a students’ self esteem. Improvisation is a powerful tool in helping a child consider several options before reaching a conclusion. This workshop presents easy to facilitate rhythm & theatre games designed to stimulate discussion, discover and reflection in the classroom.
A r eas Fo c u s
Conference Session Descriptions
Presenting the Inclusive Visual Arts Experience Marquetta Johnson Tues. AM
VSAarts Teaching Artist Fellow, Marquetta Johnson, presents a workshop about developing and presenting inclusive visual arts experiences using the Understanding by Design unit plan, Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning as the foundational strategies for success. Challenging scenarios that present themselves in art-making with ESL and nonambulatory students will be addressed with tips and techniques to create “educator-made” adaptive art-making equipment. By observing portraits and precious objects from the upcoming exhibition Habsburg Splendor and interacting in a hands-on studio activity, participants will unpack the inclusive visual art experience.
Reaching All Our Students Jaehn Clare Tues. & Thurs. AM
This session is designed to introduce participants to the conceptual framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a set of principles for curriculum
Differentiated Learning Assessment & Evaluation 21st Century Skills School Climate STEAM Literacy/Social Studies Arts Advocacy
development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn. UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone - not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.
Readers Theatre Across the Curriculum Barry Stewart Mann Thurs. PM
This session will introduce participants to the simplicity and elegance of Readers Theatre as a Drama Strategy that can be used for content delivery, review, extenson, and assessment, while satisfying literacy objectives in reading and speaking fluency. Participants will understand what Readers Theatre is, how to locate and develop Readers Theatre scripts that will engage student learning, and how to guide and coach students toward effective Readers Theatre performance in the classroom and beyond. Along the way, students will hone their skills in public speaking, collaboration, expression, 13
and possibly even dramatic composition.
Resurrecting Research: Dramaturgy in the Classroom Rachel Jones Tues. AM
Little has ever made a student’s eyes glaze over faster than a research assignment. What could be more dull than hours spent searching articles and books for a few lines of information just to fill a writing quota and a citation page? But what if your research impacted a living organism. Enter dramaturgy. Dramaturgs must be experts in the physical, social, political, and economic milieus in which a play lives to inform the designers and performers and ultimately impact the shape the play takes. Research that has impact. Come learn how to breathe life into research again and activate multiple 21st Century Skills simultaneously.
STEAM and Design Thinking
14
it to a curricular topic from their practice. We will introduce the idea of a “trigger” – a guiding concept, principle, or phenomenon that crosses disciplines and content areas. Most of the session will be devoted to hands-on brainstorming and design, allowing participants to apply EDP in developing STEAM units and projects.
STEAM Heat: Art and Math Infusion in Perspective Jeff Mather Thurs. PM
This session is a hands on “drawing as thinking” workshop in which participants will look at the geometry of binocular vision, stereopsis, and the geometry of perspective drawing as points of entry for Project Based Learning. This workshop will give participants plenty of take home nuggets to use in their classrooms from Jeff’s many years of experience integrating the arts with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
STEAM Teams
Tafee Patterson, Barry Stewart Mann, & Jeff Mather Wed. PM
Jeff Mather & Courtney Bryant Tues. AM
Participants will learn about the Engineering Design Process and apply
STEAM partnerships allow for innovations in education. Two
STEAM partners from Drew Charter School in Atlanta, Courtney Bryant, Engineering Educator, and, Jeff Mather, WAC teaching artist, will share strengths and challenges of models of STEAM collaboration and lead participants through several hands on activities that will inspire the design of new STEAM partnership models for other schools.
STEAMed Stories: A Chipmunk’s Tale Nancy Meyer Thurs. AM
In this workshop, we will take one story about a chipmunk and his friends, and explore the science, math, and engineering within through drama and song. There will be lots of role playing and problem solving, so be prepared to go a little nuts.
STEAMed Stories: Rising to the Challenge Nancy Meyer Thurs. PM
Problem Based Learning (PrBL) encourages students to develop multiple solutions to problems, share their findings, and defend as well as adjust their positions: skills promoted in Common Core ELA,
Common Core math, and Next Generation Science Standards—and used by artists since the beginning of time. Instead of the term “problem,” we will change gears and use “challenge” to set a new tone for adventures in learning (ChBL). Participants in this workshop will take on characters that use many processes to create, share, and defend solutions to storybook challenges, all connected through STEAM.
Story Power: Strategies for Integrating Storytelling Barry Stewart Mann Tues. AM
We tell stories, we think in stories, and we process information through the amazingly flexible medium of storytelling. In this workshop, participants will explore the power of storytelling to engage students, enhance the curriculum enhancement, promote literacy, and foster cultural awareness. We will use a simple process to learn and tell a story; identify the different types of stories that can be used in the classroom, and the different purposes they can serve; and then explore a collection of specific strategies for integrating storytelling into classroom
A r eas Fo c u s
Conference Session Descriptions
practice. Along the way, we will see the many ways in which the art of storytelling aligns with the Common Core, and possibilities for integration with 21st Century technologies. We’ll do what humans do—tell stories!
Storytelling Through Indian Dance Sasikala Penumarthi Thurs. PM
Participants will be introduced to the storytelling that is possible through Indian dance. The centuries old tradition of using detailed hand gestures, movement and narration to share Indian folk tales is relatable in the stories of today’s American classroom. Come ready to participate in an interactive story that asks participants to rely on their movements over their words.
Tell Me My Dream: Making Theatre for Middle Schoolers Pearl Cleage Tues. AM
Join NY Times bestselling author and nationally renowned playwright, Pearl Cleage, for a discussion about creating new work designed for middle school students. This workshop
Differentiated Learning Assessment & Evaluation 21st Century Skills School Climate STEAM Literacy/Social Studies Arts Advocacy
will focus on the world premier play Tell Me My Dream, a story about the first integrated cultural event in Atlanta and the young people who helped make this a reality, which will be produced by the Alliance Theatre in Fall 2015. Participants will learn about writing material specifically designed for middle school students, rooting a story in historical facts, and using theatre to address social justice issues. More information about Tell Me My Dream: There was a not so long ago moment when making music and making history were part of the same Atlanta dream. In 1910, that dream became a music festival that made history and changed the lives of two unsuspecting middle school time travelers forever. Take a trip back to the time before Instagram and ear buds when friendship could build a bridge to freedom. This play was especially written for Middle Schoolers and their families by Alliance playwright in residence, Pearl Cleage, in her first show for young audiences.
Theatre and Math with Young Children - STEAM Claire Ritzler Wed. AM
This interactive workshop will include demonstrations of drama and puppetry STEAM lessons that helps you find math concepts in any story. Come join in the fun and learning! 15
The Things We Carry: A Multimodal Composition in the Tangible and Intangible Teri Holbrook & Michele Zoss Wed. AM
In this interactive workshop, we will create multimodal compositions of the things we carry in our everyday lives—both what’s seen and what’s behind the scenes, what we display and what we conceal. With brief instruction in contour line drawing, participants will compose a visual/ verbal composition exploring the tangible and intangible things they carry with them. This activity, which uses examples of artwork and narrative as mentor texts, integrates visual arts, literature, and creative writing in the expression of visible and invisible experiences. It is appropriate for students ranging from K–12 through higher education.
To Sit or Not to Sit, That is the Question Designers Have the Answer Courtney Bryant Wed. PM
16
Designers control human behavior. Furniture is designed with a goal in mind—for example: just how comfortable do we want the sitter to be? Participants will be given a brief to design a seat for customers in two different cafes with different needs regarding their space and interest in retaining their customers in that space. We will follow the design process to come up with solutions for the cafes. Participants will learn the 21st Century Skills involved with tackling a design problem of this nature as well as experience the inevitable link between the STEAM subjects when designing. This session will use inspiration from the High’s Decorative Art and Design permanent collection.
Using Drama to Assess Reading Comprehension Jessica Espinoza Wed. AM & PM
Explore drama strategies that can serve as assessment measures in the classroom. Enhance teacher’s practice and pedagogy by deeply understanding the components of a meaningful assessment. Explore tableau and role
drama and recognize how they connect to assessment strategies in the reading classroom.
Learning Through the Arts into Your Classroom Sarah Cave Thurs. AM
Voices in Motion: Using Poetry and Dance in the Classroom Shyla Hardwick & Laurin Trudeau-Dunleavy Thurs. AM & PM
In this workshop, participants will study a High Museum Art Exhibit piece and using a visual response will create a poem about where they are from and how they fit into the art. They will use personal narrative poetry to find connections within the art piece and their own experiences. Participants will return to a dance space and create a living vocabulary from their individual poems. Participants will then develop movement from vocabulary and movement phrases. If time allows, movement phrases can be linked together for one final collaborative piece.
Early childhood educators will gain an understanding and application of effective strategies and arts experiences that have been tested and refined in Pre-School and Pre-K - 1st grade classrooms by teachers, Wolf Trap Teaching Artists, and of course, children. Presentation of materials will include modeling/demonstration teaching, guided practice/ coaching, group, paired and individual work. Participants will come away from the workshop with an array of chants, songs, activities and lesson ideas to immediately apply to their classroom practice.
What’s Happening, Habsburg? Investigating Trend-Setting Fashion for European Armor in the 15th Century Dr. Ellen Mitchell Wed. AM & Thurs. PM
Weaving Wolf Trap Early
This session is driven by a hands-on integration of social studies, art history,
A r eas Fo c u s
Conference Session Descriptions
and art making for middle school teachers and will culminate in the creation and assemblage of a full sized relief sculpture of a suit of armor. The medieval Habsburg Dynasty will be examined with particular focus on the most celebrated armorers, Helmschmid and Suesenhofer, of the time. A review of the transitions of distinctive styles and fashions, decorated surfaces and embellishments and functions of their full plate armor will be conducted. Participants will brainstorm ways of how to connect this and the upcoming exhibition Hapsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections, opening at the High in October, into their curriculum
Differentiated Learning Assessment & Evaluation 21st Century Skills School Climate STEAM Literacy/Social Studies Arts Advocacy
text, whom they bring into 2015 by modernizing their persona, conflict and outcomes or resolution.
Write Through the Points of View of Historical/Literary Characters and their Conflicts Valetta Anderson Thurs. PM
High School-Middle School Collision Plus techniques and Professional Theatre Pedagogy are applied to a Social Studies content text. Each attendee creates a three minute monologue for a character from the 17
Facilitator Biographies
Deirdra Alexander Teaching Artist
Deirdra Alexander, a teaching artist with the High Museum of Art for the past 9 years, develops and teaches lessons for both school and public programming. She has over twenty five years teaching experience in individual classrooms and as the art teacher for The Preschool at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. Deirdra created and developed The Preschool’s art program, using visual learning to support skill building and language development. She also developed an age appropriate Atelier at The Preschool, which has become a favorite of teachers from all age groups. Deirdra presently works with classroom teachers to integrate the visual arts into the daily learning environment. Deirdra also paints commissioned portraits, and develops thematic artwork for institutions and commercial offices.
Valetta Anderson Resident Teaching Artist
Valetta Anderson is Resident Teaching Artist at the Alliance Theatre, former Teaching Artist with the Fox and Horizon Theatres and former Adjunct Professor of Playwriting at Spelman College. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Georgia Writers’ Registry, and WomenArts. Her play, “Leaving Limbo” was premiered by Atlanta’s Essential Theatre and connects the people and culture of a pre-colonial Igbo Village with modern day Hip 18
Hop Wannabees. “She’ll Find Her Way Home,” centers on the historical founders of Mound Bayou MS and is set in 1870s Vicksburg MS where the founding couple met. It premiered and toured throughout the Southeast by Atlanta’s Jomandi Productions and was also produced by Pittsburgh’s Kuntu Repertory Theatre and Nashville’s Fisk University. “Traveling Thomas,” currently in development, is based on the Bronzeville Chicago IL 1920’s career of the Father of Gospel Music, Thomas Andrew Dorsey.
Julie Austin Early Childhood Educator
For over twenty years, Julie Austin has presented workshops, conference keynotes, and concerts nationally and internationally. Her workshop topics include preschool music in the classroom, movement, storytelling, and a variety of curriculum topics. She is a National Wolf Trap artist and a HighScope Early Childhood teacher trainer and consultant. Julie’s five outstanding children’s recordings have won national awards including a Parent’s Choice Award for her most recent CD, Fandagumbo.
Julie Baggentoss Flamenco artist
Julie Galle Baggenstoss is a Flamenco dancer who focuses on bringing the art form to a variety of American audiences. She has performed and choreographed Flamenco with the Atlanta Opera, Georgia State University’s School of
Music, The Latin American Association, Coves Darden P.R.E., and at universities and museums from the Southeast to the Midwest. She is a member of the faculty of Emory University’s Dance Program, where she teaches Flamenco as part of the university curriculum. She currently tours her original shows for kids “Ferdinand por farruca” and “That’s Apoyo”, and performs in “Olé flamenco”, presented by the Woodruff Arts Center. She also lectures on the history, evolution, and cultural significance of Flamenco and its artists.
Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran Resident Teaching Artist
Kim Bowers-Rheay Baran is a Resident Teaching Artist for the Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists, Master Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, a professional singer, actor and a certified Montessori teacher. Currently through her work as Resident Teaching Artist, Kim works in more than 24 kindergarten through 3rd grade classrooms integrating theatre arts into Alliance Institute programs including GA Wolf Trap, Dramaturgy by Students, Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy, and Bright from the Start. In addition to her classroom residencies, Kim develops curriculum for Alliance Institute programs and has been on the curriculum and implementation teams for 2 Department of Education grants. Kim develops
teacher professional learning workshops and has presented at numerous locations including Alliance Theatre Institute, American Association of Theatre Educators (AATE), Woodruff Arts Center Teacher Conference, Utah Theater Association, and Georgia State University. Most recently, Kim was a contributing author to the book The Reflexive Teaching Artist published by The University of Chicago Press. Kim received her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Oklahoma and her Montessori certification from the National Center for Montessori Education in Atlanta.
Courtney Bryant Engineering Design Teacher
A native of Atlanta, Courtney left the south to attend college at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art where she studied Art Education. She was an instructor in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s children’s education department for three years—working with Pre-K through high school students. Courtney has also worked with elementary, middle, and high school students in public school settings in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as here in Atlanta. Her findings pertaining to creativity and technology in the arts regarding high school students were published in the Journal of the National Art Education Association’s March 2010 edition. In 2012 she moved
to Drew Charter School in Atlanta where she started the Engineering Design program for the Elementary Academy. She has written the curriculum and is currently seeking approval of the course from the Georgia State Department of Education.
Donna “Mama Koku” Buie Teaching Artist
Mama Koku, Donna “Kokumo” Buie, is a Master Storyteller and children’s writer. She has taught children from pre-school to high school. Koku graduated with honors from North Carolina Central University, majoring in Theatre Arts with concentrations in performance and education. She has been telling professionally for 16 years. Koku is the official Story Teller for the National Black Arts Festival’s Children’s Education Village, and NBAF’s Coretta Scott King Book Fair. She also performs as a Teller on the rosters of The Wren’s Nest, Fulton County’s Teaching Museums, Peach Seed Storytellers, and Everybody Wins, Atlanta. Her experience as a teacher and a storyteller give her unique insights into the value of storytelling in an Early Childhood classroom.
Sarah Cave teaching artist
Sarah Cave has worked as a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist with the Alliance Theatre since 2009. She has been teaching children for 12 years with the Vinings Creative Learning Center, the GA Ensemble
Theatre Conservatory, Dunwoody Stage Door Players, The Music Class and the Bright From the Start statewide summer transition program.
Jaehn Clare Teaching Artist
Jaehn (pronounced “Jane”) Clare is a theatre artist with more than thirty-five years of experience as an actor, director, producer, playwright, touring artist, teaching artist, access advocate/activist, and arts administrator. She has worked with a variety of professional theatre companies and arts organizations, both in the U.S. and abroad. Jaehn first worked as a Teaching Artist in 1986, as a member of the Residency Company with CLIMB, Inc. in St. Paul, MN. For more than twenty-five years, she has served as an access and inclusion trainer, as well as working as a Teaching Artist in classroom settings. In 2006 Jaehn was included in the inaugural class of VSA Teaching Artist Fellows. She is a certified Georgia Wolf Trap Teaching Artist, working with the Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists since 2006. Jaehn has traveled and taught across the United States and internationally, as a Teaching Artist and professional development facilitator collaborating with artists, educators and learners from diverse countries and communities. Her personal professional mission is: to provide meaningful learning 19
Facilitator Biographies
opportunities to learners of all ages; to support productive social change; to foster the inclusion of all citizens in the arts community; and to contribute to the creation of positive
Pearl Cleage Alliance Theatre Playwright in Residence
TBD
Janice Crews Director of Education and Community Engagement, Charleston Symphony Orchestra
Dr. Janice Crews is an oboist, music educator, and arts manager from Athens, Georgia. She currently works for the Charleston Symphony Orchestra as the Director of Education and Community Engagement where she develops educational programming and curriculum for Young People’s Concerts, in-school programs, and outreach initiatives. As an oboist, Dr. Crews has performed with many professional orchestras throughout North America and Mexico. She has performed as a guest recital artist and master class instructor throughout the U.S. and in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo, Brazil. Dr. Crews is a certified K-12 music educator with extensive teaching experience at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels. She has also delivered over 40 professional learning workshops for over 400 teachers throughout the Southeast. Crews holds 20
degrees from The University of Georgia (BME, MM) and Louisiana State University (DMA) where she studied with Dwight Manning and James Ryon, respectively. She currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her partner Chelsy and their two dogs.
Jessica Espinoza Teaching Artist
Jessica Rosa Espinoza, theatre educator and director, has experience in the elementary school classroom, as well as experience working closely with both middle school and high school students. She holds a Masters in Educational Theatre from C.U.N.Y’s City College of New York. Jessica also holds a BFA in Acting and Directing from University of Mississippi. She is a state certified teacher in both Georgia and New York in the area of Theatre Education. In addition, Jessica is GA certified in Early Childhood Education, grades K-5. She directed a high school musical theatre department and developed theatre curriculum for 9th-12th grade in Hall County, GA. Jessica has developed curriculum for Fundamentals of Theatre, Playwriting, Theatre for Young Audiences, and Advanced Musical Theatre productions. In NYC Jessica was a first grade classroom teacher and also a teaching artist with several schools and age groups using drama in the classroom. As a first grade teacher, Jessica focused her energy on creating an
arts integrated curriculum. She worked at developing authentic assessments that implored drama strategies in the reading classroom. This process led to various professional development workshops with other educators where drama- integrated ideas were modeled, shared, and expanded upon.
Daryl Funn Teaching Artist
Daryl Funn graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 2004 with his BFA. He puts his degree to work every day in multimedia and web design, but his favorite arena to use his artistic talents is with digital media. Proficient in ProTools, After Effects, Premiere as well as iMovie , Mistafunn creates concepts that not only tell a good story but keep his audience engaged. Learning to balance the simple idea with the vibrant scope of digital media platforms is something Mistafunn enjoys teaching to students of all ages.
Polly Garcia Teaching Artist, ELL and Spanish Educator, Theatre Artist and Community Engagement Facilitator
Polly Garcia is an actor, theater artist, and educator from Atlanta, Georgia and Caracas Venezuela. She received a B.F.A. in Theater Arts with a focus on acting and directing from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and an M.A. in Theater Arts with a focus on teaching and
Community Engagement from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She has also studied with SITI Company through acceptance into the International Summer program at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Polly has taught Theater and Spanish for over 13 years. As an outreach practitioner, she has also worked in various communities in Kentucky and Georgia to teach playmaking and ensemble building workshops, in both English and Spanish, resulting in original plays by and for participants, that bridge cultures, improve relationships, promote literacy to empower communities.
Patricia George Early Childhood Educator
Pat George has been an educator for more than 30+ years. She presently teaches at the Preschool (Peachtree Road United Methodist Church). Teaching has always been Pat’s passion. Her philosophy is to offer an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance where each child can grow and learn at his/her own pace. She focuses on opportunities and activities that meet the needs of all three types of learners: auditory, visual and kinesthetic. As well, (and of great importance) each and every day is a day to have a healthy dose of fun! In all her years of teaching she has learned to embrace change. It is good to learn new ways and techniques for teaching. She is truly a risk taker! Pat does not hesitate to introduce
her children to new content that challenges them, and makes them think. Through differentiated instruction and visual thinking, she addresses the individual needs of each child. Her goal is for each child to be confident and ready (socially and academically) for kindergarten or pre-first in either a public or private school setting.
David Gonzalez Storyteller, Poet, Playwright, and Public Speaker
David Gonzalez is a professional storyteller, poet, playwright and public speaker. He is a cultural ambassador for the US State Department, and is the proud recipient of the 2011 International Performing Arts for Youth “Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence”. In 2010 he was named a Fellow of the Joseph Campbell Foundation. He was nominated for a 2006 Drama Desk Award for “Unique Theatrical Experience” for his production of The Frog Bride at Broadway’s New Victory Theater. David has created numerous productions, including the critically acclaimed ¡Sofrito! with The Latin Legends Band, and MytholoJazz, both of which enjoyed sold-out runs at New Victory Theater. Sleeping Beauty was co-commissioned by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn College, and The McCallum Theater. David was a featured performer at the National Storytelling Festival, and appeared for three seasons
at the Royal National Theatre in London. The Man of the House was commissioned by, and premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2013. David was the host of New York Kids on WNYC for eight seasons, earned his doctorate from New York University’s School of Education, and worked as a music therapist with handicapped children for many years. Online at davidgonzalez.com
Shyla Hardwick Teaching Artist
Shyla Hardwick is a writer and biologist from Detroit, MI. A member of the Toni Cade Bambera Scholar/Activist Collective, Shyla believes in the activating potential of words and therefore uses voice to catalyze social change. Shyla is interested in exploring the transitional space between different levels of organization and spends way too much time reading about black holes. She is the 2014 Capturing Fire slam champion and a member of the Art-Amok slam team. Shyla can be found teaching, performing, and listening to poetry at venues across the nation.
Teri Holbrook Associate Professor, Literacy and Language Arts
Teri Holbrook is an associate professor at Georgia State University. Her teaching and research—including text creation, text analysis, and text use—looks at how arts-infused and digital 21
Facilitator Biographies
composition alters notions of writing, literacy pedagogy, and qualitative inquiry
Marquetta Johnson Teaching ArtisT
Marquetta Johnson is a Teaching Artist and Quilter currently residing in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She has over 20 years of teaching experience and professional development in the areas of Arts Integration, Arts Infusion and Inclusive Classrooms. One of the highlights of Marquetta’s career as a teaching artist has been her children’s workshops presented at the Smithsonian Institute’s Folk Art Festival. Marquetta has appeared on many radio and television shows discussing and demonstrating her art form, including HGTV’s “Crafters Coast to Coast.” Marquetta’s artwork has been featured in several magazines - “Quilt Magazine” and MARTA’s “Marta on the Go Magazine.” Her artwork is in many private and corporate collections such as B.B King, Faith Ringgold, The University of Maryland, Turner Broadcasting, and The Coca Cola Company. Marquetta is the author of Hand Dyed Quilts. She has affiliations with VSA International, The Names Project-The Aids Memorial Quilt Foundation, the Atlanta Partnership for the Arts in Learning, and the High Museum of Art.
Jeff Mather STEAM Artist-in-Residence
Jeff has worked extensively in the Atlanta metro area and 22
throughout the southeast as an independent artist and educator, designing and executing numerous works of art in public spaces and conducting hundreds of workshops and residencies in schools and other community venues. He is a member of Alternate ROOTS. He is a teaching artist with the Woodruff Arts Center and the Georgia Council for the Arts, and he is the Board President for the Atlanta Partnership for Arts in Learning. He co-founded the teen art Throwdown with Grady High art educator, John Brandhorst, which has been hosted by the High Museum and the Dogwood Festival.
Karin Mervis Teaching Artist
Karin Mervis is originally from South Africa and has lived in Atlanta since 1990. She studied Fine Art before switching studies and a career in Advertising and Marketing. Karin has painted professionally since living in the United States, and has sold her acrylic, mixed media, and encaustic paintings to many private collectors. Besides painting professionally, Karin has been associated with the Woodruff Art Center since 1996, and has completed more than 1,000 community canvases in Georgia, New York, and Australia. The past three years, Karin has worked with the High Museum as a Teaching Visual Artist working with K–12 schools when they visit the museum. She has trained in the past years to
incorporate updated teaching techniques and best practices into all programs. Whether teaching literacy through the visual art process, or STEAM based programs, 21st century teaching skills are infused into her programs. Students are encouraged to collaborate while brainstorming and honing their listening and negotiating skills, with an emphasis on empathy. Karin is trained in divergent and convergent thinking techniques, as well as Project Zero Artful Thinking Routines. Her ultimate goal is to engage students in their capacity to discover their inner creativity, to challenge themselves, and to walk away inspired. Karin has presented professional development workshops at the High Museum, NAEA Conference, and many other learning opportunities for classroom teachers.
Nancy Meyer Instructional STEAM Coach & Master Teaching Artist
Nancy L. Meyer (MAT) currently serves as the Instructional STEAM (STEM + Arts) Coach for Eagle Academy, a D.C. Public Charter School, training pre-K through grade 3 teachers integrate arts into their science, technology, engineering and math curriculum. She sings with the Washington Chorus, performs improvisational comedy with NOW THIS!, writes and directs plays and musicals, and cooks up a storm. As a Master Teaching Artist for Wolf Trap and arts organizations such as The Kennedy
Center, Imagination Stage, The UDC Early Childhood Institute Laboratory School, and the Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Nancy designs and implements curriculum for school programs and residencies. Her numerous plays have been performed by many children’s theatres, museums and school groups around the country and many of her lesson plans can be found online with organizations such as Career Puppy. A former middle and high school language arts/ theatre arts/special education music teacher, Nancy leads professional development workshops around the country for teachers, artists, and people who communicate with others on a regular basis.
Dr. Laura Meyers Assistant Professor, Social Studies and Language Arts
Laura E. Meyers, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Georgia State University in the College of Education. She teaches a variety of courses to undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Additionally, she is the director of the Department’s international programs and has taken students on explorations of educational systems in such countries as China, Mexico, and Sweden. In addition to international education, Meyers’ other areas of interest include social studies, arts-infused
instruction (especially drama & visual), children’s literature, cultural immersion, and teacher decision-making. She is also a working actor, director, producer, and writer of film and stage productions.
in regard to student and teacher achievement and leadership enhancement. She has presented at the High Museum’s summer teachers institutes and GAEA.
Tiffany Mingo
Teaching Artist
Dance Department Head
Tiffany Mingo heads the Dance Department at Maynard Jackson High School in southeast Atlanta, and was a lead mentor teacher with ArtsAPS.
Dr. Ellen Mitchell Art Educator
Dr. Ellen Mitchell became an art teacher after teaching language arts and science for five years. During her nineteen years of teaching art, she designed and developed Select Art Classes for 8th grade students, wrote and received grant money to ignite school-wide art enrichment and reached out to special needs schools in her community to provide art connections programs. While serving as fine arts chairman, she initiated and organized an annual school and community cultural fine arts night as a means of celebrating the artistic talents and abilities of not only students and faculty, but also members of the community. She served on leadership and Light House committees and generated Family Art Nights for parents and their students and Art In the Heart, a symposium, for teachers to study and experience art first hand. Her dedication to education has directed school improvement
Shannon Mulkey Shannon Mulkey studied psychology and studio art the University of West Georgia. She then received Montessori training and certification through the National Center for Montessori Education. She taught at Covered Bridge Academy for 7 years. Currently, Shannon is a teaching artist at the High Museum of Art and consultant for Arts Now, an arts integration nonprofit. Shannon is also the co-founder of the Indie Craft Experience. ICE is an organization promoting modern crafters, artists, and designers.
Catherine Muller External Relations & Programs Coordinator
Catherine Muller is an architectural and community designer with a broad background and a humancentered approach. She has taught design in the Common First Year Program in Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture, has led design workshops with MODA, and has also taught talented high school students in the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. She works with an Atlanta non-profit, the Lifecycle Building Center, coordinating external relations and programming. Her passion lies in the intersection of psychology, behavior and design—addressing the 23
Facilitator Biographies
role of the individual and the community, and how designers can impact the world around us in thoughtful and inspiring a ways. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Humanities and is also a certified yoga instructor (for adults and children). A fan of wearing many hats, she teaches yoga to adults and to children as well.
Tafee Patterson Teaching Artist
Tafee Patterson is a talented performer based in Atlanta with a wide range of work that has taken her to 22 countries around the world. She has extensive experience teaching voice, acting, and musical theater at studios, music schools, theaters and privately. She is a teaching artist for the Woodruff Arts Center’s smART stART and was a presenter at the 2014 Woodruff Arts Center Educator Conference. She was selected to attend the Young Audiences Teaching Artist Institute in Baltimore, Maryland in 2013, and in 2012 was awarded a grant by Fulton County to develop a new play to help teach math skills to elementary school age children. She is passionate about her work as a teaching artist and loves watching kids of all ages get excited about learning.
24
Sasikala Penumarthi Performing Artist and Teacher
Sasikala Penumarthi trained under the great Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam for over seventeen years. She traveled with her Guru all over the world and performed in lead roles is most of the ballets presented by the Kuchipudi Art Academy. Sasikala moved to Atlanta in 1991 and continued her pursuits by training her own students, performing and producing dance dramas. She received the Master Artist award from the Georgia Council for the Arts and the National Foundation for the Advancement of Arts. Sasikala serves as Artist Affiliate and Associate Faculty at Emory University, where she teaches full credit semester courses in Kuchipudi. Sasikala has conducted lecture demonstrations on Kuchipudi at Georgia State University, Macon State College, University of Georgia at Athens, University of Florida at Tallahassee. Sasikala has been a teaching artist for the last ten years and tours all over the state of Georgia to introduce Kuchipudi Art Form to students in a multitude of schools. Sasikala’s troupe has presented dance dramas Chandalika, Krishna Parijatham, Srinivasa Kalyanam, Rukmini Kalyanam.
a PhD from Georgia State University. Both her MAEd and BSEd in Art Education are from the University of Georgia. She currently is the STEAM art teacher at Nesbit Elementary. Lauren is the President-Elect of the Georgia Art Education Association. She has presented at state and national art education conferences, as well as published her work in art education journals and books. In 2011, she was named the National Art Education Association’s Southeastern Elementary Art Educator of the Year. Believing that art can make a positive impact on the community, Lauren and her students have participated in Empty Bowls fundraisers since 2004, raising money for local food banks by selling studentcreated clay bowls.
Nicole Pourchier Assistant Professor
Nicole Pourchier is a former elementary school teacher and earned her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Language and Literacy. She has worked at Georgia State University teaching Literacy and Grammar courses in the Early Childhood Education Department. Nicole’s interests include children’s literature, digital media, and writing process theory and instruction.
Lauren Philips
Claire Ritzler
STEAM Art Educator
Teaching Artist
Lauren has taught art at the elementary level in Gwinnett County for 16 years. She has
Claire Ritzler has been involved in education and theatre arts for 30 years with
a specialty in puppetry. She has performed with Pam Clouse Puppets, the Alice Rhodes Puppet Theatre, and served as Education Director at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Currently, Claire is a teaching artist for the Alliance Theatre Company Education Department, a Wolf Trap Artist, co-director of Artistic Endeavors, and a member of Puppeteers of America.
Raja Schaar Lecturer and Design Instructor, Biomedical Engineering
Raja Schaar is an industrial designer, exhibit designer, and Design Instructor for the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at GA Tech and Emory University where she is instrumental in steering the pedagogy of the sophomore engineering design course as well as depth electives on medical device design. She works to infuse the design curriculum with human-centered design methodologies in addition to co-managing the BME machine shop. Her approach is fueled by over 10 years of experience as both an industrial design and university design lecturer. She has led both undergraduate and graduate courses in design and innovation for the School of Industrial Design, College of Architecture’s Common First Year program, as well as the School of Biomedical Engineering. Course topics include medical devices, interaction design, exhibition design, eco-design,
biologically-inspired design, transportation, service design, and application development. Schaar’s academic focus is on design thinking, human-centered design methodologies, concept development skills, and K-12 design pedagogy.
Esther Smith Educator
This summer marks Esther Smith’s 20th year in education during which she has taught students ranging from preschoolers to adults. In her tenure in the Fulton County Schools she was recognized as their 2000 High School Teacher of the Year. Esther developed the I See Literacy and I See History projects for the High Museum of Art. These projects afforded her the opportunity to explore how verbal and visual communication mirror one another in both expression and reception. Eight years as a preschool teacher have honed her understanding of early learning—particularly brain development and language acquisition—and provided new ways to explore meaning-making both visually and verbally. Outside the classroom she’s written curriculum, trained teachers and docents, and written art and history tours and tour supplemental resources. She is a 1994 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia.
Patricia Spencer Inquiry Art Specialist
Patricia Spencer is the Inquiry Art Specialist at White Oak
Elementary School. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Education in Art Education from Armstrong Atlantic State University and her Master’s in Elementary Education from Brenau University. Tricia has been an active member of the Georgia Art Education Association since 1995 and has held various positions like Youth Art Month Coordinator, Elementary division director and conference coordinator. Tricia was named the Georgia Elementary Art Educator of the Year in 2005 and Teacher of the Year at her school in 2008. Tricia serves as grade level leader for her team and works with her county administrators in the development of student performance goals and county wide assessment tools for elementary visual arts.
Barry Stewart Mann Actor, Storyteller, Teaching Artist
Barry Stewart Mann is an actor, storyteller, writer and teaching artist who works with the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Partnership for Arts in Learning, Fulton County’s Teaching Museum, and Lesley University. In 1999 he was named the National Storyteller of the Year; in 2012, he was nominated for a Suzi Bass Award for his performance in “The Green Book” at Theatrical Outfit. Barry is a graduate of Harvard University, and he shares his life with a houseful of actors—his partner Sheri and their sons Tendal and Royce. 25
Facilitator Biographies
Agnes Stillfried Curator of Education and Communication, Kunsthistorisches Museum
Agnes Stillfried is Curator of Education and Communication, Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. She received degrees in Germany and England and studied Art History, Classical Archaeology and Modern History at the Universities of Freiburg, Munich and Vienna. Agnes joined the staff of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1994 as the curator of education and communication. She teaches art history classes at a number of universities in Austria and abroad. Agnes is married to an Austrian diplomat, who is currently Austrian Ambassador to Egypt.
Robert Truan Teaching Artist and Atlanta Public Schools Dance Teacher
Robert Truan is currently the Director of Bands at Decatur High School where he teaches Symphonic Band, Marching Band, AP Music Theory, IB Music, and other chamber ensembles. In his first year at Decatur, his ensembles have won Grand Championship at the Southern Invitational Music Festival, performed at the Georgia Music Educator’s Association Convention in Savannah, and performed at the Cork School of Music in Ireland. Before teaching in Decatur, Mr. Truan was the band director at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville for five years. His concert ensembles have earned 26
consistent Superior ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluation and his marching bands have earned 7 Grand Championships. He has received a Citation of Excellence Award from the National Band Association for his ensemble’s performance at the University of Georgia’s JanFest. He is an active judge for GMEA’s All-State auditions, Governor Honors Program’s auditions, and Large Group Performance Evaluations. Mr. Truan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia and has a Master’s degree in Music Education.
Laurin TrudeauDunleavy Teaching Artist and Atlanta Public Schools Dance Teacher
Laurin received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from Brenau University where she was a member of the Brenau Dance Ensemble and choreographed for the American College Dance Festival. She has been dancing since the age of three and has technical training in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and acrobatics. She has performed and taught for SIDEWAYS Contemporary Dance Company, The Foster-Schmidt Dance Academy for Down Syndrome, Atlanta Ballet’s Outreach Program, Gainesville Ballet, Firespark! Brenau University’s Performing Arts Camp, Fleetwood Dance Center, Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center for the Arts Summer Camp, Creative Movement and Dance and recently
Brenau University’s Dance Department. Since college Laurin has been performing as a featured dancer for Walt Disney Entertainment in Orlando, FL. where she remains a seasonal cast member. Currently, Laurin lives in the Atlanta area and just finished her first year as the dance teacher at Sutton Middle School in Atlanta, GA.
Ebony Tucker Teaching Artist
Ebony Tucker came to the Alliance Theatre Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists in January of 2012. She was a graduate intern from Arizona State University earning her MFA in Theatre for Youth. She left her job as the Director of Theatre at a dance studio to become a teaching artist working with Pre-K through 12th grade. She isn’t limited to working in grade school as she also facilitates workshops with Pre-Service teachers at Georgia State University. Ebony has two master degrees; her 1st is from the University of Alabama in Theatre Management/ Arts Administration. Her BA in Theatre was earned from the University of West Georgia. She has taught youth performing arts classes for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Christian Youth Theatre Atlanta. Her skills as a teacher, playwright and director were honed with organizations such as YMCA, Children and Youth Services Atlanta, and Globe’s Learning Center. She has an interest in puppetry and taught a course while she was at Arizona
State University. At Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Ebony created digital stories with patients in the hematology and oncology clinic. Ebony is very passionate about Community Based Arts and is working to create programs that speak to her community.
Raymond Veon Assistant Dean for Arts Education, Utah State University
Raymond Veon, the former Director of Fine Arts with APS and a former Art Instructor with APS and at GSU, is currently Assistant Dean for Arts Education at Utah State University, Mr. Veon has been the lead designer of the Creativity Infusion Matrix. The team has been working together with the Creativity Infusion Training for the past five years.
curriculum decisions for teaching secondary students to communicate via writing and drawing. She also studied pre-service teachers to examine their uses of metaphors for teaching literacy in urban schools and their understandings of aesthetic experiences. Other publications argue for the need for students to learn to write and draw as they move through the K-12 school system. Her interests developed from educative university and school experiences, involved in teaching art and English in elementary and high schools in Las Vegas, Nevada, and in earning degrees at The University of Iowa, Stanford University, and the University of Georgia.
Dr. Adriana von Rensburg Arts Educator
Dr. Adriana von Rensburg is an accomplished musician and vocalist, a retired middle school music teacher with APS, and former assistant coordinator with ArtsAPS.
Michelle Zoss Assistant Professor of English Education
Michelle Zoss is an assistant professor of English Education at Georgia State University. She focuses her research on the integration of visual arts in language arts teaching. Her publications include research on teachers’
Woodruff Arts Center 1280 Peachtree Street NE Atlanta, GA 30309 woodruffcenter.org/edconference 27