SIERRA ARTS FOUNDATION AND WASHOE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS RELEASE – Sierra Arts Foundation and Washoe County School District are pleased to announce the workshop schedule for the 2012-13 Professional Development cycle. Each of the first four workshops will be 15 hours in length and teachers will receive one continuing education credit through the Nevada Department of Education. Fees for credit are waived for the 2012 – 2013 workshops. The first workshop will be February 23, 26, and 28 featuring professional dancer and instructor Jessica Mann using movement to train teachers in new ways to deepen social studies learning in the classroom.
Students can sometimes feel cornered against dates to memorize and facts to study that they cannot see past the words in a textbook. Dance can unlock a vibrant experience to pair with the facts they are learning, helping them to retain it on a physical, visual, and audible level. Collaborating Common Core State Standards in Social Studies with the Art Content Standard in Dance we are gifting students with a wider tool set in order to enhance their learning and retaining experience. Jessica Mann will guide participants in demonstrating the choreographic principles to tell stories, using artistry to communicate meaning, demonstrate critical and creative thinking skills, discovering dance style through various cultures and history, team building, and healthful living. Please join us for a resourceful dance intensive that offers strategy and new skills to utilize in your curricular standards for your students of all learning types.
Four sessions will be offered through the Arts Infusion Project funding from the U.S. Department of Education Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE) grant. These four sessions will introduce arts integration and will be offered to all teachers across WCSD. Teaching artists from Sierra Arts Foundation and music specialists from WCSD who have been involved from the beginning of the grant cycle in 2009 will run these workshops. In addition to these four workshops, there will be two Kennedy Center Workshop Leaders presenting workshops for teachers K-8 in the late spring. All workshops will be held at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center.
To sign up or for more information contact Martha O’Neill at [email protected].
Jessica Mann is a professional performer based out of New York, who has made teaching dance her specialty since moving to Reno. Jessica is passionate about finding exciting ways to demonstrate and teach students to be aware of social, historical, cultural, and physical content. Jessica teaches dance to children ranging from ages three to seventeen years old in jazz, musical theater, ballet, ballroom, and tap. She believes the creative arts are essential to a balanced education and an outlet to solidify lessons as well as creativity. As an artist, Jessica graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy for conservatory training and has a Bachelor in Fine Arts from New School University. Her most recent credits include performing on Disney Cruise Line and London’s Aladdin, a Holiday Musical, produced by Big Family Entertainment.
Sierra Arts is proud to serve northern Nevada and northeastern California with an emphasis on teaching, nurturing and supporting the arts in our community. Sierra Arts provides education opportunities for artists of all ages, as well as development and training, financial support and promotional and marketing assistance. Sierra Arts also creates and manages spaces and venues throughout our community for artists to perform and display their work.
