How we're going back to school this year
At Upstream Arts, our greatest strength has always been using the creative arts to nurture community and practice social emotional learning in ways that uplift everyone's agency. Now, we're finding that this knowledge, traditionally thought of as "soft skills," is actually key to the success of distance learning spaces. "It's about taking the time to build community," says Julie Guidry, Upstream Arts' Executive Director, "because in the absence of community, access to learning becomes much more challenging."
In the past month, our Staff and Teaching Artists have been in high production mode creating a brand new series of professional development videos for educators in the Minneapolis, Fridley, and Milwaukee Public Schools. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. "You guys rock!" said one Mpls Special Education Teacher, "I just finished watching and wish I had the whole day with my team to discuss what each point could look like in our virtual class." We're proud to be of service to our teachers, and hope that everyone going back to school today finds the connection and the community that they've been craving.
