PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ArtReach offerings include interactive professional development workshops conducted by performing and visual artists to connect literacy and the arts, and enable teachers to utilize the arts as a teaching tool.

Select one of the following educator workshops or call Susan Cohen, Director of Arts Education at (516) 922-0061 for information about additional offerings and customized workshops.  

• Professional Development with Eli Yamin, Musician, Teaching Artist, Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Middle School Jazz Academy
  For teachers, arts coordinators, administrators:
  Motivating, Engaging and inspiring Excellence with the 4 C's of the Blues: Creativity, Culture, Community and Communication - participants explore the infinite possibilities of teaching the Blues in the classroom and experience the Blues as a vital means of communicating difficult feelings.
  Teaching Jazz Across the Curriculum using free, online resources - (Note: This workshop requires audio/visual hookup with Internet.) Through a hands-on exploration of free curriculum materials available online, participants will learn concrete and dynamic ways of bringing Jazz to the classroom to engage and inspire students.
  For Performing Artists, Teaching Artists and Arts Coordinators:
  Creating and Refining Interactive Performance Programs for All Ages - Eli Yamin draws on his 15 years of experience creating and performing interactive music programs and utilizes ideas presented in David Wallace’s book, Reaching Out: A Musician's Guide to Interactive Performance. Participants are guided to identify exciting ways of maximizing the impact of your own performance program.
• Brian Pinkney: The Rhythm of my Art - Storyboarding or Writing workshops with renowned author/illustrator Brian Pinkney.
• Tell Me a Story, Dance Me a Dance – Dance and Literacy for young children. Conducted by Dance, Drama and Storytelling Teaching Artist Dafna Soltes Stein, of Kinesthetic Intelligence Plus, Inc. Workshop is appropriate for teachers of grades K-4.
• Dancing Verbs in the Classroom, Gym or Studio – Dance and Literacy for K-12 with Dafna Soltes Stein. Curriculum may be adjusted for grade level, ELL and Special Education students.
• Sticks and Stones, Words, Muscles and Bones – Dance meets literacy meets character education with Dafna Soltes Stein. This teacher workshop uses poetry appropriate for grade levels K-5.
• Jazz Improvisation and Blues Lyrics with Jazz Vocalist/Teaching Artist Louise Rogers. Explore classroom strategies for writing original Blues lyrics. Participants will write and perform a Blues song; appropriate for grades 4 and up.
• Masks, Myths, and Fables with Lois Bohovesky, founder/artistic director of Hudson Vagabond Puppets; This workshop will introduce participants to construction techniques and methods of creating masks in order to present specific characters.