Opportunity to learn
At the HEART of Arts Education
Biennial conference – Thursday, September 27, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
USM, Portland campus, Abromson Center
Arts educators, teaching artists, community arts leaders, youth advocates, and community arts leaders are invited to attend the Arts Education Pre-Conference: At the HEART of Arts Education.
The cost to attend is $50 and includes a full schedule (see below), lunch, performance by The Extension Chords, students from the Midcoast Music Academy, the Maine International Conference on the Arts Opening Reception: A celebration of the arts with Keynote Speaker Maryo Gard Ewell – Rural Community Development in and Through the Arts, and possible 12 contact hours.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
The Arts Education Pre-Conference participants will:
- learn skills to improve teaching and learning in the arts;
- make connections among the arts disciplines: dance, media arts, music, theater, visual arts and creative writing;
- network with other educators and reconnect with old friends;
- make connections between school and community, including arts organizations, artists, and other arts education supporters.
Description
The 2018 Maine State Teacher of the Year, Kaitlin Young, will provide an engaging keynote and guide participants in creating action steps for educators and their work in schools and/or communities. Attend as an individual or consider bringing a team from your school or organization. The day will start and conclude with creative art and music making.
The conference will be a joyous occasion to learn together and celebrate who we are! We are educating the future, the next generation of artists, arts educators, and appreciators of the arts. To do that we need to:
- instill purpose/passion;
- ensure high quality instruction;
- provide relevant and real-world learning experiences;
- empower our students to become the teachers of their generation.
Facilitators: Kaitlin Young and Catherine Ring
Morning Session Descriptions (Concurrent)
A. Celebrate Community Through Music
Communities thrive when opportunities are given to connect, communicate, create and celebrate. The arts are the perfect vehicle for bringing communities together. Come prepared to sing, dance, move or play, there will be something for everyone!
If you choose the Music Making session participants will have the opportunity to learn:
- Basic African drumming and singing
- Simplified steps to an African dance
And put it together to make an African processional and use later in the day as part of the MICA processional.
FOLI – “Foli”is the word used for rhythm by the Malinke tribe in West Africa But Foli is not only found in Malinke music, but in all parts of their daily lives. FOLI: there is no movement without rhythm
Facilitators: Kris Bisson and Kate Smith
B. Lantern Making and Creative Exploration
Come prepared with your creative energy to make lanterns using simple materials and be ready to play with the possibilities.
If you choose the Visual Art – Lantern session participants will have the opportunity to learn:
- How in some cultures light holds a symbolic meaning and is an integral part of traditions
- How to create a lantern
And, use it later in the day as part of the MICA professional.
Bon Festival – In Japan this annual festival honors deceased relatives while people spend time with their living family members. At the culmination of the festival families place lanterns on the river to be carried away symbolizing the peaceful return to the afterlife.
Facilitators: Lindsay Pinchbeck and Argy Nestor
If you attend with a team from your school/district or community please consider splitting up your team during the morning sessions so the learning can be shared between your colleagues.
Facilitator Bios
Kaitlin Young is the 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year. She currently teaches music to students in prekindergarten through fourth grade and choral music to students in fifth through eighth grade in the RSU #68 school district in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. Kaitlin graduated from The University of Maine at Orono with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education in 2010, and completed her Master’s Degree in Music Education with a concentration in Kodaly Pedagogy at The Hartt School in Hartford, CT in 2017. Kaitlin enjoys spending her free time at her family camp with her husband Bob, cat Zoe, and dog Gabby.
Catherine Ring is Executive Director of the New England Institute for Teacher Education and teaches graduate level courses to educators across the state of Maine. She is co-founder of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative and has served on the core leadership team since it was established in 2010. Catherine completed her Education Leadership studies at the University of Vermont and received her Master of Arts from Vermont College of Norwich University. For her thesis, entitled “Education and the Arts, Toward Creative Intelligences,” she researched the role of the arts in learning and has worked closely with classroom teachers, helping them to integrate the arts into their regular curricula. As Principal, Catherine helped to bring to her school district the Kennedy Center’s National Partnership program. She assists school districts throughout Maine with differentiated instruction, arts integration, and gifted and talented programs. Catherine is the 2014 Advocate of the Year by the Maine Art Education Association. Catherine returned to the art classroom in 2016 and is teaching on Isle au Haut.
Kris Bisson is Director of Choruses and a music educator at Marshwood Middle School in Eliot, Maine. She received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Music degrees in Music Education from the University of Southern Maine and has served as adjudicator and guest conductor for several district choral festivals. She is a teacher leader for the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative, and a member of the National Association for Music Education and the American Choral Directors Association. Her passion for student engagement is reflected in each class she teaches.
Lindsay Pinchbeck has been teaching with and through the arts in a variety of settings for the past 20 years. Lindsay is the director and founder of Sweet Tree Arts a community arts organization in Hope, ME and began Sweetland School a K-6 Arts Integrated elementary program in 2013. Pinchbeck gained her Masters in Education through Lesley University’s Creative Arts and Learning program. Creatively Lindsay works as a printmaker and photographer. Lindsay believes the creative arts should be accessible to all. She encourages us to be active participants and keen observers with the hope of enriching our communities through the arts.
Kate Smith is an energetic music teacher currently teaching music to preK-third grade students in South Berwick, Maine. Kate earned her music education degree from USM and a Master’s degree in Technology in Education from Lesley University. Kate was honored as 2014 York County Teacher of the Year for her passion for innovation and creativity. Kate serves as a teacher leader and design team member for the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative, the Parade Coordinator for South Berwick’s annual Lanternfest and a coordinator for Central School’s farm-to-table program. Kate lives in southern Maine with her husband and three children.
Argy Nestor is the Director of Arts Education at the Maine Arts Commission. She earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Maine, Orono. Much of her career has been spent in a middle school where visual arts was at the heart of all subjects. Argy has been recognized for her accomplishments in teaching, leadership and advocacy including the 1995 Maine Teacher of the Year. She has authored many articles and presented workshops at the local, state, national, and international level. She serves on the education council for the Americans for the Arts. Argy is most proud of the accomplishments of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative, MALI, (formerly the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative) and the work (and play) that all arts educators do in classrooms across Maine. When she is working to further arts education in Maine Argy can be found on a pond somewhere in Maine or making mosaics.
Questions? Please contact Argy Nestor.
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