By Arianna Ross | Executive Director and Master Teaching Artist
“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.
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