TEACHING

Arts Integration Studio offers Professional Development Training for teachers, administrators, community educators, health care professionals, parents, teaching artists, and the general public.

CURRENT PROGRAMS

School Based Programs:

Supporting a Sustainable STEAM Program at Mountain View School

During the 23-24 school year, 5th grade teachers in Easthampton took part in a S.T.E.A.M. cohort led by Priscilla and Megan Kelly Bagg, the Easthampton Mountain View School STEAM teacher.

STEM + Arts = STEAM

the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics that emphasizes interdisciplinary learning and engages students in the 21st century skills of communication, creative & critical thinking, analysis & problem-solving, innovation, and collaboration.

We began the school year working with the cohort to explore the fundamentals of Arts Integration and to develop arts integrated units on Climate & Weather and Organic Decomposition.

In the Spring we launched “The Regional Flooding Project”, a multi-week program designed for students to investigate the environmental, economic, and public health impacts caused by increased flooding in the Pioneer Valley. The project centers on the municipal decision-making process within the region and offers a multidimensional approach to town planning as students learn about the watershed, biodiversity, and the impact humans have on the earth and on each other. The project included the opportunity for students to meet with a panel of regional representatives and put all their work into a final 5th grade EXPO, during which each class presented their city plan to their “regional” peers.

This project is supported by grants from the Frances R. Dewing Foundation and the Easthampton Learning Foundation.

Learning the stages of pumpkin decay through embodiment. Stage II: Bloat

Professional Development in The Springfield Public Schools

During the spring, Arts Integration Studio worked with Springfield Public Schools in support of its Portrait of a Graduate initiative, which is described as, “…a vision of the skills and attributes SPS students need to find success in college and career.”

During this  pilot semester, AIS worked at the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts, with a Professional Learning Circle running January-May; at the Mary M. Walsh Elementary School for a ½ day of Professional Development with follow up observation and team meetings; and at the Alice B. Beal Elementary School for a one on one mentoring project.

Responses from the participants at Mary M. Walsh Elementary have been very positive, with teachers observing that arts integration techniques, “Give students more independence and more movement while learning,” and are “Interactive to keep engagement & energy high.”

The mentoring at Alice B. Beal Elementary included designing a visual arts component to support an English Language Arts unit and bi-weekly meetings to support the teacher incorporating it.

“It was like a little light went on the first week, they were like, okay, cool, we’re gonna make a map, you know. And then the second week, they’re like, oh, there’s a park next to the statue, we read about that…And then this week, when they did the garden, all the lights went on, and then they backtracked to a couple of connections. So that was so exciting.”

We are in the planning stages of our work with Springfield Public Schools this fall.

Professional Development in Pittsfield Public Schools

Community Based Programs:

ARTS CORPS at the Treehouse, Year Two

Beginning in September 2023 and throughout the Spring of 2024, Arts Integration Studio has continued its Emerging Teaching Artist Program, offering embedded professional development for teaching artists during Arts Corps, our intergenerational Arts in Community program on site at the Treehouse Foundation in Easthampton.

ARTS CORPS is an 8 month long training program developed by Arts Integration Studio for college students and emerging teaching artists interested in the intersectionality of arts, education, and community well-being. The program includes arts integration training with a focus on trauma-informed and culturally relevant practices, and opportunities to attend and (co)facilitate intergenerational workshops and short residencies at the Treehouse with youth and families whose lives have been impacted by foster care, and with community elders.

Devised Theater for Strength & Resiliency

In September, Priscilla was a visiting artist at WAM, a nonprofit theater in Lenox where Arts & Activism Meet, and facilitated a day-long Devised Theater Workshop on Strength & Resiliency.

“Eighteen community members squeezed into a circle in the WAM Hub on Saturday, September 23. Although we were all women-identifying, the diversity in other respects was striking, the youngest participant was 12 and the oldest were in their 80s. Some professional actors and some experiencing a performance workshop for the first time, all our eyes were on Priscilla Kane Hellweg as she created a remarkable, brave space of depth and intimacy for us to create within.”

As one participant expressed, “I was reminded of my desire to connect with others and create something beautiful together.”

WAM blog 11/27/23 by Maizy Broderick Scarpa. Feature photo by Michael Nancollas. www.wamtheatre.com