Indy Parks Debuts New Amphitheater

With decades of dreaming and years of planning, a major transformation is in the works at Riverside Park, and we’re excited to finally welcome you inside. This month, we’ll open the gates at Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre. We have

envisioned it as a place where community members can come together to experience live performances in their neighborhood. It will be the new home of Indy Shakes, our city’s only professional “Shakespeare in the Park” company. They’ll take the stage for six performances this summer, beginning July 22. The amphitheater’s inaugural concert season kicks off August 5. Over the following two months, fans can enjoy nearly a dozen live shows and movie screenings in the venue.

The amphitheater is anchored to a memorial, built in 1931 to honor former Indianapolis mayor, Thomas Taggart. In the past several years, the memorial’s historic limestone arches have started to deteriorate with age. We knew that in order to create something special in this park, we had to bring the memorial back to its former glory. Renovating the memorial and creating the amphitheater was a huge undertaking that would not have been possible without the help of a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. In 2018, the Parks Alliance of Indianapolis led the charge in applying for a grant through Lilly Endowment’s initiative, Strengthening Indianapolis Through Arts and Cultural Innovation. We collaborated with Indy Shakes and Indiana Landmarks in applying for the grant. As part of the grant proposal process, we had to prove that this project would improve this community’s quality of life and benefit all those who live, work and play in Indianapolis.

We’re continuing to work alongside the Riverside community and partners to create a new future to the park. One that brings out the love of arts, music, and culture that west side neighbors are known for. The Riverside Regional Park Master Plan is full of plans that will make the park more accessible and enjoyable for all community members.

I hope to see you out enjoying the opening season at Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre and all the changes to come at Riverside Park!

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BE A BACK-TO-SCHOOL SUCCESS

WORDS BY STEFFY MCCOURT

Create healthy habits at home to help your child have a great school year.

It's that time of the year when kids get ready to head back to the classroom. After a traumatic year that saw many students moving from virtual to in-person or maybe to hybrid, the upcoming school year may seem emotionally overwhelming to families.

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently launched The Acceleration Imperative, which addresses “the enormous challenges faced by students, families, teachers, and staff over the past year.” From their research, they made the following statement: “The development of children’s social and emotional skills is a longstanding component of elementary education, and may be more important now than ever. Many students will have spent more than a year away from school with limited opportunities to socialize with other children.”

The majority of school leaders have recognized the need for a “soft start” to the school year, where a focus on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) activities will initially outweigh otherwise academically rigorous components of the curriculum. Educators will be teaching, and in some cases reteaching, how to “do school.”

Tips for Starting the Year Strong

Here are some ways that families can cultivate healthy SEL habits at home, to help ensure a successful new school year. These tips can be initiated slowly during the summer and early fall to create an environment that supports SEL efforts at school. Remember, though, that habits take time. It’s important to not try every single one all at once, but do try to incorporate one or two at a time until they stick.

Turn off devices during dinner and establish a daily check-in.

Having regular family meals where conversation can happen about the day’s events is important in creating a happy, stable family life. To create a platform for meaningful discussion, you can create a daily check-in routine at dinner. One time-tested routine that many teachers use in their classrooms is the Rose, Bud and Thorn routine. Each

family member takes turns sharing their rose (something good), bud (something they are looking forward to) and their thorn (something they need help with).

Create a family calendar. Put it in a central

location, like the kitchen. Once a week, have a family meeting where everyone goes over the calendar together. To make this a meeting that the kids look forward to, make sure to schedule in at least one family fun activity per week. You can ask each family member to write down one or two activities, then put them all in a bag. Each week, pull out one activity and put it on the calendar. Weekly activities can be things like family movie night, backyard camping, homemade pizza night, hiking or a board game night.

Practice gratitude. When we practice looking for things or people to be grateful for, we begin to automatically look on the bright side. To encourage a positive mindset, create a Family Gratitude Jar. Place the jar in a common place with pens and papers. Family members can write what or who they are thankful for whenever the mood strikes. Once a week, these notes can be read out loud. You can also create a wall of gratitude. Place sticky notes and markers in a central location. Invite your family members to write one thing or person they are grateful for every day or each week.

Develop self-awareness and self-management

skills. We all experience multiple emotions every day, and those emotions lead to both positive and negative behaviors. We can cultivate positive behavior choices within our family by recognizing and discussing how we are feeling on a regular basis.

The first step is to talk about emotions. When you read books to your child, ask your child how the character was feeling, and discuss the character’s behavior that stemmed from those feelings. You can also use this same idea to discuss events that happened during the day.

There are many ways to get ready to go back to school. As important as it might seem to get the coolest and latest school gear, prioritizing your family’s emotional health right now will set your family up for a rewarding school year.