Archive for the ‘Curriculum and Instruction’ Category

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Theater Opportunity for Students

March 11, 2020

Offstage Portland Ovations

Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 10am & 12pm at Hannaford Hall, Portland

Tickets available for School-Time Performance of Living Voices: Hear My Voice.

Join the 72-year battle that won half of America’s citizens the right to vote 100 years ago. This dramatization of a young woman, Jessie’s, experience as a suffragette during the World War I era brings to life the rock stars who started the movement, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; the generation who continued the fight, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns; as well as those who opposed it–including her own parents. Jessie soon compares the women’s fight for democracy to the one her brother stands for as a soldier in World War I. As tragedy strikes both at home and abroad and the battle for the vote continues to escalate, everyone in Jessie’s family must face their own decisions about what they believe is right and the actions they are willing to take on this pivotal issue.

As a part of our Cultivating Curiosity series, all students that attend receive a free copy of Roses and Radicals: The Epic Story of How American Women Won the Right to Vote to take home with them.

For tickets and information email offstage@portlandovations.org or call 207-773-3150.

 

Posted in Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Leadership, Theater | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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LEAPS of Imagination Student Show

February 7, 2020

Zoots in Camden

See for Yourself How Art Makes You Smarter – LEAPS of Imagination Student Show

Zoot Coffee, 31 Elm Street, Camden

1 February – February 29

“Art makes you smarter,” one LEAPS’ second grader said, reflecting on its importance in kids’ lives. There are so many reasons why.

  • Art creates opportunities for imaginations to soar.
  • Art teaches children to see connections and make inferences.
  • Art helps students become risk takers, work through failures, and try new approaches.
  • Art deepens understanding, contextualizing ideas to make them meaningful.
  • Art is good for thinking.

If children today are to become the leaders of tomorrow, art will set them on the path and inspire their first steps.

LEAPS of IMAGINATION brings mentor artists into public school classrooms to promote art exploration and connected thinking.

Posted in Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Opportunity, Visual Arts | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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MALI Update

February 4, 2020

Good news from the Maine Arts Commission

The Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) members and Martha Piscuskas the new director of arts education at the Maine Arts Commission have been working since last summer on the valuable work of MALI.

For those veteran readers of this blog, you are probably well aware of MALI and its importance to the field of Maine Arts Education. For any newcomers, and those needing a refresher, MALI is a program of the Maine Arts Commission. MALI is a network of Maine Arts Teacher Leaders and Teaching Artist Leaders dedicated to supporting each others’ leadership, growth as educators, and promotion of authentic arts experiences in all genres for all Maine students. It grew out of the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative, a grassroots effort by some Maine Arts Teachers to educate themselves and create some guidelines and practices for arts assessment. Almost every year since 2011,  MALI has held a summer institute for visual and performing arts teachers to deepen their mastery of teaching the arts. A yearlong cohort continues to work together, working towards specific individual goals and culminating in public presentations.

TWO IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

  • Winter Retreat – Saturday, Feb 29
  • Summer Institute NOTE NEW MONTH: — Thursday and Friday, June 25 & 26

With a leadership transition, MALI is taking this year to re-evaluate its purpose, clarify its structure and strengthen its role. Two leadership teams are tackling these tasks, and will be seeking feedback from all MALI members.

VISION TEAM

Vision Team members Dana Legawiec, Jen Driscoll, Lynda Leonas, Jake Sturtevant, and Sue Barre. Skyping in: Shawna Barnes, Jen Acosta

The Vision Team is a think-tank tasked with establishing a system and structure for MALI to grow and thrive into the future. It is comprised of 7 MALI Teacher Leaders and Teaching Artist Leaders, including Jake Sturtevant (Phase 1), Jen Acosta (Phase 1), Shawna Barnes (Phase 8), Sue Barre (Phase 3), Jennie Driscoll (Phase 1), Dana Legawiec (Phase 7), Lynda Leonas (Phase 5) and Martha Piscuskas (MAC). The team members have had a variety of powerful MALI experiences, and agree that the organization has had a lasting impact on Maine Arts Education.

The Vision Team has reviewed the MALI vision and mission statements, as well as the current structure of MALI. It is their goal to ensure that MALI will continue to foster a community of passionate Arts Educators and Teaching Artists. The community will allow for professional growth that will directly impact students. It is their intent to help maintain, and sustain, the positive aspects of MALI, while strengthening the organizational mission that MALI represents.

In order to focus discussion they have been investigating answers to these questions:

  1. What does it mean to be a MALI Teacher Leader/Teaching Artist Leader?
  2. How can MALI gain fiscal stability?
  3. How can the MALI community bring in more passionate Arts Educators and Teaching Artists?
  4. How can MALI develop an institutional governance structure that allows for flexibility and growth, and maintains a grassroots approach for developing a community of Arts Educators?

They will continue discussions, and would welcome thoughts and ideas from anyone who has been touched by the MALI community. They will develop a future MALI Vision at the Winter Retreat on Saturday, February 29, 2020.

PROGRAM TEAM

Program Team members Kate Smith, Dorie Tripp, and Kaitlin Young deep in thought. Other side of table include Melanie Crowe, Bronwyn Sale, Iva Damon, and Brigid Rankowski

The Program Team was tasked with maintaining MALI’s current offerings such as the Winter Retreat, a call for new members, the Summer Institute and Critical Friends’ Day. The Program Team members are Kate Smith (phase 4), Bronwyn Sale (higher ed rep), Iva Damon (phase 5), Melanie Crowe (Phase 3), Kaitlin Young (phase 7), Dorie Tripp (Phase 7), Emma Campbell (phase 4), Brigid Rankowski (Phase 6)  and Martha Piscuskas (MAC). The team has met several times via zoom conference and in person on January 26th. They have chosen the themes “teacher leadership” and “self-care” for the MALI Winter Retreat on February 29th and look forward to seeing all MALI members past and present.

MALI Teams thank all Maine arts educators for all you do and continue to do, and look forward to hearing from you. To share feedback or for more information, or to MALI folks for sign-up information, please connect with a Team member, or Martha Piscuskas, Director of Arts Education at the Maine Arts Commission: martha.piscuskas@maine.gov 207-287-2750.

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, VPA, YAHOO | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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Americans Who Tell the Truth

January 11, 2020

New project

Americans Who Tell the Truth will select twenty (20) indigenous, immigrant, and rural middle level and high school youth (two from each of ten schools) to create their self-portraits and write companion narratives about an event, person, and/or belief that helped them become who they are today.  AWTT and Maine artist Robert Shetterly and Maine educator Connie Carter will work with them in a day-long workshop at the Center for Innovation in Education at Thomas College to help them begin their self-portraits and narratives. The workshop date will be between March 10-20, 2020 (exact date to be determined).

The workshop will include the students and accompanying teacher/s (art and other disciplines) from participating schools as well as pre-service teachers from Thomas College.  Students will begin their self-portraits and narratives and teacher participants will learn to coach these students in their creations of art and writing in order to support them when they return to their respective schools.  Hopefully, teachers will coach additional students in their respective schools in order to broaden the dialogues among indigenous, immigrant, and rural youth in Maine.  
Finished portraits will be displayed at the Samantha Smith Challenge Celebration at Thomas College on June 1 and also at the Maine State House in Augusta.  Portrait artists and their teachers will hopefully accompany their portraits to both of these events. Plans for additional exhibits are still to be determined.  
The primary goal of this project is to give a voice to a representative group of indigenous, immigrant, rural and marginalized youth in Maine with the intent of using their work as a way to initiate a dialogue about diverse Maine identities and the power of the arts to help inspire that conversation.  Additionally, we hope to give teachers the tools to use the arts as a valuable interdisciplinary tool to bring explorations of Maine’s history, economics, cultural identity, and landscape to the school curriculum.  
Please direct any questions and concerns you have about this project to Connie Carter at connie@americanswhotellthetruth.org.  Because initial participation in this project is limited, please let us know by January 24 if you are interested in being a part of this empowering opportunity by e-mailing connie@americanswhotellthetruth.org  

Posted in Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Opportunity, Visual Arts | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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International Bird Art Student Exhibit

January 4, 2020

Youth ages 4-18

An international juried bird art exhibit at the Museum of American Bird Art  (MABA) is scheduled called Taking Flight. The goal of this exhibition is to create a greater awareness and appreciation for birds while fostering the development of young artists and sharing their work with the public.

The Taking Flight contest is open to young artists age 4 to 18 of all skill levels. The exhibition of winners is displayed at MABA from November–December.

This year’s theme is “Your favorite bird, or what birds mean to you,” and most non-digital mediums are allowed. Entries will be accepted January 15 through June 15, 2020. The show will be up in the museum in the fall of 2020. Please go to the Audubon website for the guidelines and details for submitting student art work.

Please contact Daniel Boudreau, Youth Education Coordinator at dboudreau@massaudubon.org if you have other questions. 

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Playwriting Workshop

January 2, 2020

Portland Stage

Join Portland Stage education program for an interactive playwriting workshop with actor, playwright, and Maine Native, John Cariani. As a playwright, Cariani is best known for his play Almost, Maine which he will be performing in this season at Portland Stage. Other plays include cul-de-sac, Last Gas, and LOVE/SICK. As an actor, Cariani’s Broadway credits include Tony Award winning Broadway musical The Band’s Visit, Fiddler on the Roof (Tony Award nominee for Best Featured Actor in a musical), Something Rotten!. Coming up next, John will be heading back to Broadway in Tony Kushner’s Caroline or Change.
The workshop is designed for high school students and will be held at Portland Stage on January 20, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Cost is $50 however there are partial and full scholarships available – no one will be left out! For more information please email education@portlandstage.org.
Sign up at: https://www.portlandstage.org/education/classes/

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction, Opportunity, Theater | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

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Penobscot Bay Ringers

December 18, 2019

Chime Loan Program

In honor of its 10 Year Anniversary, Penobscot Bay Ringers established the first ChoirChime Loan Program in Mid-Coast Maine. The program is designed to bring the joy of handbell music to children while also teaching scales and chords, reading music, and working together to create joyful sounds and song.The first recipient of the funds in 2018 went to MSAD #40. Under the direction of music teacher Megan Rogers students in three schools are learning to play the bells.

PBR hopes to add another set of Malmark ChoirChimes to the program so they can expand and make a yearly award of the program.

To learn more about the Chime Loan Program CLICK HERE.

 

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Metalsmith Studio

December 13, 2019

SeDoMoCha Middle School

After a little construction and many years of running an after school program art teacher Bobbi Tardif is excited to have a space designated for metalwork in the SeDoMoCha Middle School. Tardif is the 2019 Piscataquis County Teacher of Year.

After two years of planning and construction the studio opened at the start of the school year. Some Title IV funds were used to purchase supplies to start the program. In addition the funding came from grants and donations. Bobbi estimates that $15,000 has gone into the new space. “It’s been a lot of work but I’m so happy and impressed by the support we have gotten from the community and community businesses, it couldn’t be done without them,” she said.

You can READ about the entire project in the Piscataquis Observer article written by Stuart Hedstrom, December 6, 2019.

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Transforming a School Through Arts Integration

December 11, 2019

Edutopia

“The arts provide an access point for everyone,” Caitlin Gordon, a Maya Lin third grade teacher, told Schwartz. “I think it allows children to learn about how the process of something is just as important, if not more important, than the product. I think it just really helps create more of that well-balanced, critical-thinking person that we want for our future.”

Educators and parents alike at the Maya Lin Elementary in Alameda, California believe wholeheartedly in their approach to education with arts integration. They were at risk of closing not long ago and it was the transformation of the school with arts integration that has made all the difference.

You can READ THE ARTICLE written by Laura Lee and published by Edutopia on November 8, 2019.

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Dance Dance Dance

December 10, 2019

Dance Education grant

Thanks to Martha Piscuskas for providing information for this blog post.She is the interim director for arts education, Maine Arts Commission.

Hunt and Allison Smith

Nearing the gym, through the corridor literally owned and decorated by the K-third grade Central School students in South Berwick, one could already hear the rhythmical claps of a class fully engaged in old-time dancing. Recently I paid a visit to Kate Smith’s music program, where the whole school was treated to a residency with Maine Arts Commission Teaching Artists Hunt and Allison Smith, who played and taught old English, Irish and even Russian dances throughout the  week.

Thanks to the leadership of Kate and the Physical Education Teacher, Kristan Tiede, the school received a Maine Arts Commission Dance Education Grant and funding from the Marshwood Education Fund to bring this duo to play their fiddle, accordion and teach traditional set dances in circles, squares, and lines over three days. The teaching artists held the attention well of the students, no matter which age group. Even parents, siblings and teachers got to join in with a community family contradance one evening. Says Kate, “I know the residency with the Smiths will renew my confidence in teaching units that embed dance in music units in a more thoughtful, appropriate and successful way.  

I love the opportunity to integrate other subjects and collaborate with peers deepening student learning while giving us the chance  to learn from each other.”

I invite you to learn more about the Maine Arts Commission grant opportunities and the Teaching Artist roster.

The dance education grant at the Maine Arts Commission was established in 2012 with the help of Thornton Academy dance educator Emma Campbell and several dance programs and studios in southern Maine. Through a fund raiser performance they have contributed thousands of dollars so students, school communities, and teaching artists  across the state could benefit from dance education learning opportunities.

If you have any questions about arts education programs at the Maine Arts Commission please contact Martha Piscuskas, Interim Director of Arts Education.

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