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

Professional Development in The Springfield Public Schools

Since the fall of 2023, we have been the Arts Integration Consultant 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.”

In the spring of 2024, we worked at the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts (SCotA), offering a Professional Learning Circle that ran 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.

“It was like a little light went on the first week. They said, “Okay, cool, we’re gonna make a map.” And then the second week, they said, “Oh, there’s a park next to the statue, we read about that.” And then this week, when they created a garden, all the lights went on, and they backtracked and made new connections to all the material. That was so exciting.”

3rd Grade SPS Teacher

In August 2024, we offered a full day of Arts Integration professional development at the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts, and during the 24-25 school year, we have continued our work at SCotA, Walsh, and Beal, and expanded into additional schools in the district.

Julie Jaron, Director of Visual and Performing Arts, writes, “Year after year, Priscilla’s arts integration work with Springfield Public Schools proves to deepen the way students and their teachers understand so many subject areas. The arts transform the learning process into an engaging, impactful, and often joyous learning experience. Making meaning out of challenging concepts doesn’t have to be boring. Arts integration breathes life into this dreary paradigm and inspires student’s academic growth.”

Professional Development in Pittsfield Public Schools

Supporting a Sustainable STEAM Program at Mountain View School

We began our work at the Easthampton Mountain View School in the fall of 2023, partnering with Megan Kelley-Bagg, Mountain View Schools STEAM instructor, to develop sustainable STEAM programming for grades K-8.

In September 2023, 5th grade teachers in Easthampton formed a STEAM cohort led by Priscilla and Megan. They explored the fundamentals of Arts Integration and developed 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 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 flood plan to their “regional” peers.

This year, our 2025 cadre of Emerging Teaching Artists (ETAs), drawn from Mount Holyoke, Bay Path University, Holyoke Community College, and Westfield State, developed five STEAM workshops for the 4th grade, that they implemented in all six 4th grade classrooms under the guidance of Priscilla and Megan. 

Our plan for Fall 2026 is to provide school wide Arts Integration Professional Development workshops at Mountain View School.

We could not do this work without the support of the Easthampton Learning Foundation, Thank you!

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

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.

Emerging Teaching Artist Program

In 2023, Arts Integration Studio launched our Emerging Teaching Artist Program, which focuses on college students and emerging teaching artists interested in the intersectionality of arts, education, and community well-being. We offer professional training in arts integration methodology with a variety of site based embedded professional development opportunities in schools and community settings.

During 2023 and 2024, our Emerging Teaching Artists have participated in ARTS CORPS, our intergenerational Arts in Community program on site at the Treehouse Foundation in Easthampton. 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.

This year our 2025 cadre of Emerging Teaching Artists, drawn from Mount Holyoke, Bay Path University, and Holyoke Community College, developed five STEAM workshops for the 4th grade at Mountain View School in Easthampton.

They implemented them this spring in all six 4th grade classrooms, under the guidance of Priscilla Kane Hellweg, AIS’s Principal Teaching Artist, Ashley Rodriguez, AIS’s Associate Teaching Artist, and Megan Kelley-Bagg, the Easthampton Mountain View School STEAM teacher.