Creative Living: 2021-2022

The 2021-2022 school year was exciting.  Our primary focus was serving the Ashland City School District.  Our secondary focus was serving the Creative Aging Initiative.  We worked with five schools (Ashland and Medina County) and a library (Wayne County). This year We had more variety of students than any other year as a teaching artist. 

The full-year residency in Ashland was filled with students in two elementary schools.  Kimberly met weekly with K-3rd grades while collaborating with school teachers for integrated lessons. According to a second-grade teacher, Mrs. LaRou, “I saw so much resilience in my students as this program progressed! Ms. Kimberly was so helpful to align the movement moments with what we were doing in math.”  The world language students at the High School also enjoyed monthly visits.  Students learned the history and contemporary styles of dance according to the language they were in class for. Additional schools I visited this year were Cloverleaf Elementary and High School. The PUREMOVEMENT afterschool program held three 4-week sessions for second and third graders and was a real hit with students.

The Creative Aging Initiative offered a residency at Wayne County Public Library. There were eight class sessions and it surprised everyone.  The participants shared meaningful songs and stories and we collaborated to create a concert.  The audience loved seeing the performers aged 55+ showing progressive dance steps with big smiles. The best performance was 92 year old Adrian leading the group to the song The Happy Wanderer. Her family brought her flowers while she bowed to the audience. 

We are grateful to have undertaken a number of learning opportunities this year beginning in the fall with the Creative Aging Intensive through OAC and Lifetime Arts. Additionally we, participated in Joanie Calem’s You Too Can Uke and also Best Practices Webinar for Marketing for Inclusion through Art Possible.  Through CETA (Changing Education through the Arts) we enjoyed both Literacy Enrichment through Creative Drama with Maria Cary and Tap Mathematician with Quynn Johnson; both for K-5th grades, online, in November. We attended Dismantling Barriers of White-Centered Cucrriculum & Culture in Dance Learning with Nya McCarthy-Brown & Nicole Robinson, OAC’s Forum on Understanding UDL, and the Creative Aging Culmination online in the winter. I finished the year of professional development in person with Powerful Assessment Practices and Foundation for Arts Integration with Deb Brozoska, and I move…You move…by Erin Weaver at the Renew Conference in Wooster, Ohio. We enjoyed the opportunity to assimilate these practices into our own.