October 2021
SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS NEWSLETTER
Dear Educators,

We hope you are excited for the amount of opportunities in this month’s newsletter!

To start, here is a quote from President Biden that sums up the importance of this month:
"Let us ensure that everyone in America — regardless of race, geography, ability, and socioeconomic status — has equal and unrestricted access to the arts and humanities, and the opportunities they afford." - President Biden

To celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month, we have a great deal of teacher opportunities and news from our Educational Programs. To kick it off we have an opportunity to support the Arts Education for All Act, which is the broadest arts education policy ever introduced. We then have multiple educational shows created by our members, centered around teaching kids about the world through art. 

And lastly, we have many opportunities for teachers to attend programs and classes to help them later benefit children in the classroom. We hope you enjoy these programs, and hope to continue collaborating in the future. Have a spooky October!

Table of Contents:

Follow us @DCCollaborative on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up to date on featured programs and professional development! Got questions? Contact schools@DCCollaborative.org
DC Collaborative Announcements
Support the Arts Education for All Act!

Grantmakers in the Arts, Americans for the Arts, and National Association of Music Merchants invites you to join us in expressing support for the Arts Education for All Act, which will soon be introduced by Representative Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). This is the broadest arts education policy bill ever introduced in Congress.

If you are authorized by your organization to do so, you can formally support this legislation by clicking here and entering your information. If your organization or agency is not able to endorse this bill, please feel free to endorse in your capacity as a private citizen.

Representative Bonamici is one of the top champions in Congress on arts in education and equitable access for these critical services as well as a leader on the Education and Labor Committee (on which she is the Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services).

The Arts Education for All Act includes key provisions that will support and encourage the offering of arts education and programming experiences to Americans including our youngest learners, K-12 students, and youth impacted by the juvenile justice system. Crucially, the bill will also include provisions that would allow for rigorous arts and arts education research to be carried out, to further inform how elementary and secondary education in our country is improved.

Individuals and organizations are encouraged to reply:
Please join Grantmakers in the Arts and the members of the Arts Education Funders Coalition in expressing your support for the Arts Education for All Act by clicking below.
Stay Involved with DC Collaborative
YOUR VOICE MATTERS &
WE WANT TO HEAR IT!!

Have you been wanting to become more involved with the work of The DC Collaborative? Do you have opinions and suggestions that would improve our model to help serve you and your students better? Below you will find some ways to connect with us an integral part of the Collaborative process:

1) Complete our School Partner Interest Form! This will give us better insight into where you would like to plug into the work the DC Collaborative is doing and you feel you can best serve not only our students but the larger community of practice. Simply complete the Interest Form at your convenience.

2) Submit Photos, Testimonies, and Blogs: The excitement and level of engagement you observe in your students before, during, and after the arts and humanities programming must be heartwarming. We want to feature you and your students in our Story Bank blog and on our website. If you have pictures, video reactions, or if you are interested in submitting a blog post about your experience using the AHFES programming, please complete the Submission Form. We would be most grateful to see evidence of the transformative power of arts and humanities education.
 
As educators, your voice is ESSENTIAL in shaping and implementing this framework into your classroom, curriculum, and professional development.
Education Program News
FEATURED OPPORTUNITIES
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the DC Black Repertory Company! 
The event will be held on Monday, October 18th, from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM. It will be held at THEARC Theater, located at 1901 Mississippi Avenue S. E. Washington, DC 20020. Save the date!

For more information visit the website link below, or call 202-270-2850.
Teacher Professional Development Opportunities
Smithsonian Folklife Festival

For the past 18 months, the Brazil in D.C. team at Folklife has been working with an amazing group of Brazilian artists and practitioners of Brazilian cultural expressions, all who are based in the Washington D.C./metro area. While our work together has focused on various efforts, from community mapping to performance and more, our main focus has been developing educational and learning materials for intergenerational audiences, students of all ages, and the many learning environments where enrichment and cultural exploration occur.
 
We are excited to conclude this work with two Zoom workshops and interactive conversations featuring some of the Brazil in D.C. artists, as we unveil a series of beautiful digital and media learning resources, accessible to the public, and specifically tailored to students, budding practitioners and the teachers who guide youth's learning endeavors. 
 
These sessions will showcase videos, activities sheets for youth (and teachers), and allow participants the opportunity to engage directly with the teaching artists themselves on how to frame the cultural expressions presented in the digital materials. Both days are designed to not only celebrate the artistic voices active within the D.C. area, but also illustrate the learning opportunities possible when engaging with heritage and cultural practices. 
 
Each day – Tues. Nov 9th and Wed. Nov. 10th – will include presentations by different artists of the Brazil in D.C. community, as well as the Folklife Festival Brazil in D.C. team. 
 
Sessions are free and open to the public. Education administrators, teachers, youth workers, learning specialists, and/or school staff are highly encouraged to register.
 
Words of Fire: A Poetry and Performance Festival

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) is hosting a two-day festival program, titled Words on Fire: A Poetry and Performance Festival in March 2022. It will include the Annual Poetry Out Loud competition (organized by the National Endowment on the Arts and the Poetry Foundation), a poetry slam, and a written poetry contest.
 
This program is specifically for DC’s High Schools! From November 2021 - February 2022, CAH will pair participating schools with local Teaching Artists, to offer poetry workshops to students to help them prepare for their festival performance.
 
 
CAH is hosting an interest meeting on Friday, October 15, for High School program coordinators and teachers who want to learn more about this new program.
 
The Kennedy Center:
Welcome, educators!
 
The Kennedy Center is focusing on developing digital education resources to ensure that students continue to have access to high quality arts education.
 
Pre-Registration for Schools
 
Three of our new Virtual Field Trips below are only available for a limited time in October through November and require pre-registration. These include:
 
In The MOment: A Drawing Dance
Inspired by the artwork and abstractions of Mo Willems, Ephrat Asherie Dance collaborates with Willem on a Kennedy Center co-commission about making art out of small things. Duration is 25 min. Available Oct. 4-29
 
Slopera: A Bite-Sized Opera
Slopera: A Bite-Sized Opera is based on Mo Willems’ book I really like slop! That brings Elephant and Piggie to a place they’ve always belonged: the opera! Elephant and Piggie are best friends, but what happens to besties when they find out they can’t share everything together? Do friends have to like the same things? Duration is 20 min. Available Oct. 4-29
 
A Wind in the Door
One of literature’s favorite heroines, Meg Murry, is back to join forces with her brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin for a fantastical adventure. Playwright Jacqueline Goldfinger and director Nicole A. Watson bring the exciting sequel to Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved book A Wrinkle in Time to the stage. When an extraterrestrial being recruits the trio to fight an evil force, they’ll travel across the galaxy - and through the cells of a human body - to stop it. Available Nov. 1-21. 
 
In addition to the above Virtual Field Trips which require pre-registration, we are adding more free, on-demand performances which are open and available with no registration. Learn more about what's available now and our upcoming events. Information on the events above, and the ones that do not require registration, can be found on the button below.
 
Opportunities for Young Artists: 
For burgeoning artists, we offer specialized programs that offer training, exposure and guidance to build mastery and understanding of craft. Labs, class series, internships and competitions are a few of the opportunities to explore. Learn more below.
 
Additional Free Digital Education Resources
Teaching Artists Present: An online library of arts-based activities geared toward young learners in grades 2-6 and their families. 
Moonshot@Home: Bring the energy and the joy of the Moonshot studio home with 5 minute video tutorials of engaging activities for people of all ages. 
What I Do: Explore the behind the scenes decisions through the eyes of the artists who make them with 8-12 minute deep dive videos. 
Digital Resource Library: A free collection of hundreds of digital learning resources: lessons, articles, performance guides, how-tos, and much more. 
 
Any question should be sent to KCED@kennedy-center.org
Student Opportunities
Faction of Fools Theater Company, Inc: Bean and Widge Go to the Park

Watch "Bean & Widge Go to the Park!" from Faction of Fools Theatre Company and Adventure Theatre MTC

Join Faction of Fools in collaboration with Adventure Theatre MTC for this heartfelt and silly digital production that introduces climate change to kiddos (and adults) with a spirit of accessibility and hope. Bean is well meaning but chaotic. Widge is small but chock-full of gumption. They’ve come to Glen Echo Park to work on a school science assignment, but before they can even read it, they lose their homework and discover it has been ripped into pieces! Bean and Widge must search the park for the missing pieces, and along the way they meet new friends (fuzzy and human alike!), learn how they can make a difference in the fight against climate change, and become best friends. Fun for the whole family, but recommended for the elementary level.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: Re-imagining Migration

Migration is part of our shared human experience, and humans have migrated throughout time for various, often interconnected reasons. What can we learn about migration from the study of museum objects? This workshop sets out to answer this question by introducing Project Zero’s Re-imagining Migration (RiM) project and by exploring a digital resource on the Silk Roads, one of the most ancient and widespread examples of migration across the Eastern Hemisphere. Discover Thinking Routines and digital resources of museum objects related to migration that you can use in your classroom. This workshop is designed for upper elementary through high school educators, but all are welcome to attend. Cohosted with DC-Project Zero (DCPZ). Register via DC-Project Zero: 
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons

Virtual Field Trip
Available October 11–November 5, 2021
Available for Grades 3–12
How does art communicate how we imagine the supernatural? Students will meet scary ghosts, giant demons, and helpful monsters in works of art from China, India, and Japan. Students will learn about customs, religious stories, and folktales that feature heroes, guardians, and supernatural beings. Register now for this Seasonal Topic on this request form: 
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery: Artful Movement

Virtual Field Trip
Available October 14–December 14, 2021
Available for Grades Pre-K–6
How do the acts of participating in conversations about art and engaging in movement promote social and emotional learning skills? Students will pair breath, stillness, and movement exercises to recreate a story inspired by a work of art, to explore the senses, and to discover mind-body connections. Through close-looking activities, students will describe, analyze, and connect with a work of art. Students may conclude the program with words to indicate their moods and affirmation statements to express their resilience and power. This program was developed in partnership with the mindfulness education non-profit Create Calm. Request a program by completing the reservation form: 
BECOME A STUDENT MEMBER OF WOMEN IN FILM AND VIDEO

Women in Film and Video is a mid-Atlantic regional organization that hosts workshops, open houses, and networking events for individual members. They are seeking to expand their student membership for high school and college students. Becoming a student member gives access to the ins and outs of the production world and includes them on listservs that gives valuable insight and opportunities into the film and video world. Students can use the discount code WIFVStudent21 to join. To learn more about student membership, please visit wifv.org.
Ways to Give
Donate to the DC Collaborative online or remit payment by check to:

DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative

The DC Collaborative is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

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The DC Collaborative is a recipient of an FY21 General Operating Support Service Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
The DC Collaborative is proud to receive a grant for its Collective Impact work supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The DC Collaborative is the backbone support organization that leads members of the Any Given Child DC program, part of The John F. Kennedy  Center for the Performing Arts.