Program areas at YAMD
Summer Arts and Learning academy: the summer Arts for Learning academy (sala) is our summer Learning program that we operate in partnership with baltimore city schools. This six-week, full day summer program curbs summer Learning loss in literacy and math by providing Arts integrated instruction. The power of sala lies in the collaboration that occurs between teaching artists and teachers who co-teach children, prek-6th grade, in the program. In addition to academic instruction, kids have enrichment opportunities in the Arts, athletics, robotics and field trips. During the year ended august 31, 2022, the organization served 2,167 youth through sala.
Asala: the organization offers the after-school Arts & Learning academy (asala) in partnership with baltimore city public schools at six locations. Asala pairs a classroom teacher and a professional teaching artist to deliver arts-integrated math and literacy lessons to elementary and middle school students. Participating students experienced three hours of extended academic Learning and enrichment per day for four days a week. Students were introduced to a wide variety of art forms, from illustration and spoken word to percussion, drama and dance, and had a chance to work alongside students from across the city and learn from professional artists. During the year ended august 31, 2022, 433 students participated in asala, cumulatively experiencing 17,016 hours of arts-integrated Learning.
Early learning/wolftrapas the Maryland affiliate of wolf trap institute for early Learning, the organization offers residency programs designed specifically for our youngest learners (from birth through kindergarten). Additionally, the organization also offers other types of early Learning programming including family involvement workshops, teacher professional development, and assemblies. The 2021-2022 school year proved to be an incredible time of growth and continued innovation. Arts for Learning far exceeded our goal to reach 1,350 early learners, families, and educators, engaging instead over 19,000 people in total. In addition, in partnership with the msde and ready at five, the organization offered a series of eight saturday professional development workshops during the year ended august 31, 2022. These workshops were led by wolf trap master teaching artists and our new early childhood curriculum specialist, dr. syretha storey. We offered participating child care providers the ability to earn the msde core of knowledge hours required to retain their licenses, allowing us to recruit and build relationships with many new child care providers. The workshops covered a range of topics including using the theater Arts to activate children's imaginations, dance for strengthening fine and gross motor skills while encouraging cognitive development, and using musical techniques as a practical strategy for encouraging social-emotional and oral literacy skills. In total, 628 educators and child care providers registered to attend these workshops.
Professional development:the organization offers schools and school districts a range of professional development programs. It can be as short as something that fits into a faculty meeting or as in depth as a year- long fellowship for teachers and principals. All professional development aims to help the adults who work with children, see and use the Arts as a vehicle for inspiration and engagement. The organization indirectly impacts the education of tens of thousands of students every year through its professional development offerings.
Workforce developmentworkforce development includes the bloomberg Arts internship program. This is a rigorous program with three major elements: a six-week paid placement working day-to-day in an Arts organization; opportunities to connect with artists, leaders and organizations that make baltimore city such a vibrant Arts community; and professional development focused on college and career readiness. The students gain familiarity and comfort with workplace etiquette, improve verbal and written communication skills, explore cultural assets in our city, develop critical life and work sills, and prepare to apply and transition into college. This program started in new york city and later expanded to philadelphia, boston, Washington, dc, and baltimore. The program aims to encourage a more equitable and diverse range of staff and audiences among cultural institutions, while instilling in the students an understanding and appreciation of the important civic contributions of Arts and culture.
Residenciesin a residency program, a professional teaching artist collaborates with teachers to co-plan and co-teach a series of workshops in the classroom. In fine Arts residencies, the lessons focus on understanding and experiencing the art form. In Arts integrated residencies, the lessons incorporate both Learning about the art form and using the art form to better understand other curriculum topics. Each teaching artist completes intensive training to understand how to navigate the fine Arts standards and break down their art form for students. Students benefit by having an opportunity to delve deeply into the art form and find their own creative processes, and teachers benefit by Learning new strategies to use the Arts in their teaching. Residencies are available for students of all ages, from birth through grade 12.
Goodnow: the organization began offering summer Arts for Learning at goodnow during the year ended august 31, 2022. This program was offered to baltimore city students in grades k-8 an energetic, healthy, and safe summer packed with opportunities to creatively collaborate, cooperate, and engage with peers and the community through art-making, recreational sports, stem-based and academic Learning experiences. The program was a full-day, six-week program, where academic teachers and teaching artists support students' educational enrichment, character development, and cultural understanding. Students in summer Arts for Learning at goodnow developed socially and emotionally, expanded their creative process, experienced a variety of field trips and explored creative and athletic experiences that support their growth and development.
Education innovation and research: in january 2022, the us department of education (doe) awarded the organization a five-year grant award to partner with prince george's county public schools for a research study called start with the art: Arts integration + co-teaching -- a transformative approach to increasing academic achievement and fostering socioemotional development in elementary students. Arts for Learning is the only organization in Maryland to have been awarded one of the 30 eir grants this year. The doe education innovation and research grant will allow the organization to research, demonstrate and model the effectiveness of using Arts and artists in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms. Grant activities commenced in january 2022 for a pilot year that began with the 2022/2023 school year with 7 classrooms at two schools participating in the program.
Other programs include the following activities: assembly programs - an assembly program is a live, interactive, and educational Arts performance by a professional artist or ensemble. Assemblies expose students to new art forms that they may have never explored before, such as japanese taiko drumming, slam poetry, or physical theatre (pantomime). These exposures foster an appreciation of various art forms and the cultures from which they come. Our assemblies are interactive and allow students to make connections to other curriculum areas including literature, social studies, math, and science. Additionally, assembly programs enhance students' social and emotional skills including self-awareness and social awareness. Each program is 45 minutes in length and has a maximum audience size of 250 students, unless otherwise specified. The organization also now offers assembly programs online via live streams and pre-recorded videos. During the year ended august 31, 2022 the organization served 69,249 students and 3,674 teachers. As a result, 172,720 total student Learning hours were experienced by students across the state of Maryland. Cultural events - cultural events include Arts virtual festivals which are live streamed to schools across the state of Maryland. During the year ended august 31, 2022, 39,000 students viewed the blacktastic children's festival of Maryland's african american history and culture and over 5,000 students participated virtually in Arts career day. Distance Learning - in response to the transition to virtual teaching and Learning in spring 2020, the organization developed new online programs for students. Most notable are the following: Arts and Learning snacks are take-home art kits created by Arts for Learning teaching artists. These kits include all the supplies needed for kids and caregivers to take a break from the screen, use their hands and imaginations, and explore new materials. Arts and Learning kids is a collection of 30-minute pre-recorded video lessons. In these episodes, Arts for Learning artists and educators teach ela and math concepts aligned with national standards through a series of fun, arts-integrated videos. Arts explorations are a sequential series of five interactive videos produced by professional teaching artists that engage students in the exploration of creative skills in a wide variety of art forms like dancing, theatre, music, and more.
School exploration: during the year ended august 31, 2022, the organization began to explore the potential to open/operate a charter school in baltimore city. The organization contracted with local consulting firm, nld strategic, to complete the first phase of understanding the need within our community as part of the strategic planning process. Ninety-five percent of the over 600 families, students, artist and teachers believe an Arts for Learning charter school is needed in baltimore at this time. The second phase of the process involved convening small working groups to explore a set of follow up questions, primarily whether or not to start a brand-new charter or convert an existing city school to a charter, with the latter being the overwhelming recommendation. Exploration on this project continues into fy23.