About 30 arts educators from throughout West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania will attend the Summer Institute for Teacher Education in the Arts at the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center June 19-24.
The program, known as SITE in the Arts, is designed to improve and enhance K-12 instruction of the performing and visual arts in the regions public and private schools. WVU s College of Creative Arts is the programs host.
Teachers attending the intensive, five-day institute will learn fresh teaching strategies and renew current teaching methods. They will also work on individual goals in their areas of concentration, including art, theatre and music.
Workshop leaders include faculty members from the College of Creative Arts, nationally recognized arts educators from across the country, and professional artists, musicians and actors. In addition to events in Morgantown, the teachers will take part in field trips to Kentuck Knob, the Pittsburgh Childrens Museum and the Andy Warhol Museum.
Janet Barrett , associate professor of music education at Northwestern University and president of the North Central Division of the Music Educators National Conference, will be keynote speaker at the opening ceremony on Sunday, June 19.
Barrett teaches courses on research methods, curriculum, general music methods and arts in education. Her research interests include curriculum studies in music, interdisciplinary approaches in music education and the arts, and music teacher education and professional development.
Other workshop leaders and performers participating in the institute include:
- Peter and Mary Alice Amidon , performing and teaching artists who specialize in traditional song, dance and storytelling
- Janet Robbins , professor of music at WVU and a member of the music education faculty
- Sandra Stauffer , general music specialist and Evelyn Smith Professor of Music at Arizona State University
- Terry Barrett , professor of art education at Ohio State University
- William J. Thomas , coordinator of art education and foundations at WVU
- Rachel Briley , assistant professor of theater at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
- Grey Seal Puppets , a nationally known company whose repertoire consists of familiar fairy tales, classic folk tales and original stories
- Joann Spencer Siegrist , professor of puppetry and creative dramatics at WVU and director of the Puppet Mobile
- Merryl R. Goldberg , professor of visual and performing arts at California State University San Marcos
- Gail Herman , an educational consultant who emphasizes the arts in her work with teachers
- Joy Faini Saab, a WVU researcher in education who has extensive experience with integrating the arts in elementary classrooms
- Carl Grassini, a visual artist and jazz musician
The College of Creative Arts received a $92,000 grant in 2003 from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to develop the initial SITE in the Arts program. It was the largest grant of this type in the history of the college. In 2005, the college received an additional $84,000 grant from the Benedum Foundation to continue to develop the program through 2006 and to add a distance education component.
Other partners involved in planning and implementing SITE in the Arts include the Community Foundation of Fayette County, Pa.; selected arts teachers practicing in K-12 education; and the departments of education in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
William Winsor, associate dean of the college, initiated the program, guided the grant application and serves as principal investigator with the Benedum Foundation. Cyndi Conner-Bess, a faculty member in the WVU Division of Music, serves as the program director and Tim Valentine, a recent graduate of WVU , is the program manager.
Teachers attending the institute (by county):
West Virginia
Berkeley: Andrea Hasley, music, Opequon Elementary , Martinsburg; Grant: Jennifer Sites, art, Petersburg Elementary, Petersburg; Harrison: Carolyn Light, art, and Lisa Reese, music, Big Elm Elementary, Shinnston; Pamela Walling, music, Lumberport Middle, Lumberport; William Leaseburg, art, Clarksburg; Kanawha: John Richmond, art, Hayes Middle, St. Albans; Sara Cooney, art, Riverside High, Belle; Taylor: Beverly Kinsey, music, Anna Jarvis Elementary, Grafton; Monongalia: Heidi Dunkle and Heather Allen, music, Mountainview Elementary, Morgantown; Jocelyn Peters, music, Cheat Lake Elementary, Morgantown; Nora Sheets, art, St. Francis Central, Morgantown; Debra Hart, art, Morgantown; John Vasil, art, Brookhaven Elementary, Morgantown; Lori McPherson, art, Morgantown; Rebecca Terry, music, Mason Dixon Elementary, Blacksville; Wood : James E. Fauber, Jr., art, Hamilton Junior High, Parkersburg; Steven Morningstar, art, Parkersburg High, Parkersburg; Wayne : Rhonda Rickman, art, Tolsia High, Fort Gay.
Pennsylvania
Greene: Thea Holzworth, art, Margaret Bell Miller Middle, Waynesburg; Elizabeth Goodwin, art, Waynesburg Central High, Waynesburg; Emily Dadisman, music, Waynesburg Elementary/Perry Elementary, Waynesburg; Fayette: Dorothy Swinker, music, Central Elementary, Brownsville.
Maryland
Garrett: Laura Richards, music, Accident Elementary, Accident.