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| | | Silk Road Connect students from JHS 185 performing in "Night at the Caravanserai: Tales of Wonder" at SummerStage in June 2011 | © JENNIFER TAYLOR
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Silk Road Connect in New York City After piloting our Silk Road Connect arts-integration approach in New York City schools for two years, we are pleased to announce our first two partner schools: JHS 185–Edward Bleeker Junior High School in Queens (whose students are pictured above) and MS 61–Dr. Gladstone H. Atwell Middle School in Brooklyn. Between the two schools, more than 20 teachers and administrators and 300 students—10 classes of sixth-graders—are taking part in Silk Road Connect during the 2011-2012 school year. To kick off the new school year, tabla player Sandeep Das visited JHS 185 from New Delhi on October 5. Students and educators at both schools will learn to dye with indigo later in October. Textile artist Linda LaBelle will lead classes through this immediately accessibly but infinitely variable process, using traditional methods developed along the Silk Road. (Watch our "Indigo Goes to School" video to learn more about the dyeing process and the study of indigo as a means to connect various subjects.) Collaboration with teachers and school administrators is central to the Silk Road Connect approach. To keep lines of communication open and provide support to educators, the Silk Road Project employs Fellows who work directly in participating schools. This year in New York, we are excited to have Claire Allen and Nicole Reiner as Silk Road Connect Fellows. A visual artist, Claire has an M.Ed. in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has specialized in combining student activism with art. Nicole is working toward an M.A. in Museum Studies at New York University and hopes to explore how partnerships with outside organizations can impact education through the arts. Professional development session open to all NYC teachers
Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. In November, the Silk Road Project will offer a professional development session for up to 40 NYC Department of Education teachers. Sixth-grade teachers interested in arts integration are particularly encouraged to attend. See details on our calendar. Silk Road Connect in Boston Silk Road Connect is expanding to Boston, the Silk Road Project's new home base. We are pleased to be working with a Silk Road Connect Fellow in Boston as well. Yarima Ariza is working toward an M.Ed. degree in Arts in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; a fiber and paper artist and an experienced educator of 12 years, she has taught and mentored teachers in urban schools in Chicago and Miami. As a Silk Road Connect Fellow, she hopes to help schools make art more accessible to students. We began discussions with middle-school teachers and administrators in the Boston and Cambridge area this fall. Teaching artist visits will begin in the spring semester. See our Silk Road Connect overview for information about teaching artist applications and upcoming professional development sessions, or to sign up for our Silk Road Connect email newsletter. |