Arts as our bridge to Equity

“This artist-in-residency with Story Tapestries and Arianna has truly been the unique difference Waring Station teachers needed to self motivate and improve as teachers. Our teachers are now executing fun and meaningful activities with children in their care. Arianna and Story Tapestries has been a HUGE SUCCESS with our center.”

- Debbie Jones, Kid's Villa Learning Center

This word has been a defining one for the experience most people, including storytellers and teaching artists, have faced since the Covid-19 pandemic began well over a year ago and our world experienced seismic change. Those of us who had been used to performing and presenting in-person with a live audience pivoted to performing and presenting via online platforms. And now, more than a year into the pandemic, the world has begun to shift again, this time taking careful steps closer to the “normal” we once felt we knew. 

As with so much in this pandemic season, meeting uncertainty and changing guidelines with flexibility and make-it-work-attitudes has been the touchstone of returning to in-person performances and residencies. And then circumstances changed. 

First, temperatures increased, going from the moderate weather we’d been experiencing throughout most of spring to the quite-warm days of almost-summer. Second, the Brood X cicadas that had been waiting dormant in the area for 17 years made their presence relentlessly and vociferously known. The teachers at Mary Hart Center wisely decided that these two factors would be too much to overcome for us to have a successful residency outside. All residency portions would be moved inside, which meant that everyone present would need to wear a mask.

If you had asked me even two years ago about whether it would be possible to tell or teach effectively with a mask covering half of my face, my answer would have come without hesitation: “Of course not! A teller and teaching artist’s face is one of her primary tools!” But, once more, this season proved to be a teacher that would cause stretching and growth in ways that we didn’t think possible.

Once again, we pivoted. 

On the day of the kick-off event, mask firmly in place, I told stories to a combined group of preschool to older elementary school children. And there, in the midst of what I once would have called the untenable circumstance of telling stories and teaching from them with a mask covering half of my face and the faces of each teacher and student who was there, something marvelous happened: the stories managed to do their magic. The children participated enthusiastically. There were laughter, intakes of breath, and excellent questions and moments of discussion. And some children whom teachers had expected might not be enthusiastic about a drama and storytelling-based residency showed keen interest.

Through each of the ensuing residency sessions with preschool and school-aged children, I saw interest in and understanding of story grow as students, teachers, and I worked together through activities that supported language arts, social-emotional, and fine motor skill learning in each classroom. But something else happened that I count as one of the most important pieces of any embedded residency: the building of joyful, trust-filled partnership.

Each day of the residency, the basic routine was similar: I would first spend time with the preschool students and then meet with the older students once their school day was complete. And on each day, each group of children greeted the start of our drama time with excitement and communicated what they most enjoyed about the session at the end. After only a couple of sessions, preschool students playing outside when I left the building after the day’s gatherings were complete were stopping their play to call out questions, to introduce me to their parents, or to demonstrate sounds associated with characters from that day’s stories. Similarly, school-aged children began asking whether drama could continue throughout the summer and expressed disappointment when they realized that our drama and storytelling time was coming to an end.

While these relational outcomes can be difficult to quantify, research shows their pertinence to measurable educational benefits. Through this season’s unique circumstances, story was able to exhibit, once again, its strengths as a multi-faceted learning tool that supports key areas of learning in fun, engaging ways while increasing relationship and measurable literacy outcomes, among them increased understanding of story structure and characters; support of building a rich and varied vocabulary; and demonstrated ability to make character and plot-driven choices that can translate from oral to written communications. I’m delighted to have been able to be part of that process.

This story is a reflection about the Discover the Power of the Written Word program, which engaged 1,300+ children and educators in 2021, funded in part by the Children's Opportunity Fund, Maryland State Arts Council, and by support from individual donors - like YOU!

Links:

• Story Tapestries at Maryland Child Services - Rockville
• In their words what participants experienced

“I was excited to have our students exposed to this performing arts opportunity and appreciative of your organization’s provision to the school in this virtual experience…Students don’t get to see other kids…a normal part of the school day that many students took for granted. Seeing other students at a (virtual) school performance made it feel like regular school for a few moments and that was priceless.” Dorothea Fuller, Principal of Galway Elementary School

Thanks to the support from donors, sponsors, and funders, Story Tapestries has been engaging students in interactive in-school artist-in-residencies that include a kick-off performance to expose the school community to professional performing arts as well as build excitement for the residency. These performances have provided a unique opportunity for the school community to "gather" in a time when we can't safely sit in a theater together. Our artists have studied how to use the tools available to them to really make youth part of the performance experience - from rap improvisations using kids' names to asking questions and using the chat feature to capture even more voices than you might get to hear in a traditional performance setting. The performance is then followed by a customized residency experience during which our artists collaborate with school teachers to enhance their daily lessons in language arts, social studies, math, science and more by leading lessons that utilize an art form. Finally, we have supported these programs with arts and learning activity kits so that every student has access to materials including colored pencils, markers, glue sticks, paper and so on. When we first began proposing remote versions of these in-school programs, the issue of access to materials quickly rose to the forefront and we are grateful so many local businesses stepped up to help us fill this gap. Let me tell you about one of those business partners.

Fitzgerald Auto has been the backbone support of so many elements of Story Tapestries that it is hard to select what we should highlight for this brief story.  The team at Fitzgerald Auto are true gifts as they are constantly thinking about how they can support the community and consequently Story Tapestries. Their support this year grew beyond a simple donation to a genuine partnership that values the power of the arts to impact learning. The shift began with a conversation with Dottie Fitzgerald. We shared with her the urgent issue that we were facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families did not have the tools they needed to support strong, passionate, committed, thoughtful learners. The youth were failing and the education gap was growing. Parents were mentally exhausted and worried about how to make ends meet while also helping their children be successful. Story Tapestries had a proven solution: Give the students equitable access to supplies and learning opportunities, as a result, they will expand their minds and discover a LOVE of learning!!

Most recently, a teacher at Charles Drew Elementary School said “Jonathan, he struggles to learn. He has not given an authentic answer all year. But this past month while working with a Story Tapestries artist, he wrote four poems. He has shined. He came out of his shell.”  Another teacher told me that her students treasure the supplies they received like they are gold because before we sent them their journals, they used to do their math on paper towels. After listening, Dottie and her team truly stepped up. They made a donation so that we could get started buying supplies and providing effective online programs. Furthermore, after speaking with their managers, they immediately set in motion a supply drive with 2 of their dealerships. In a short period of time, they collected 1,140 items that we used to put together 400 arts and literacy kits!  Dottie and her team do this work not because they have to, but because they believe in the power of the arts to change the community and develop lifelong learners.

Links:

• Learn more about what Story Tapestries is up to