Education United States Project #15151

STEM plus Arts = Learning Full STEAM ahead!

by Story Tapestries Inc.

STEM plus Arts = Learning Full STEAM ahead!

Project Report | Nov 8, 2019
Embodied Learning for STEM Classrooms

By Tyler French | Innovation and Partnerships Director

Embodied Learning

We are at an exciting moment in the yearly arc of our programming as we get to see glimpses of the impact our in-school artist residences are making. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a residency session in a theatre classroom at Neelsville Middle School where teaching-artist Drew A., engaged students in discussions and writing exercises around exploring and breaking stereotypes. Drew invited students on stage to read and perform early versions of their writing, asking them to use the voices, imaginations, bodies, and ensemble (or V.I.B.E.) to bring the writing to life. Drew and the other teaching-artists with whom we partner bring these embodied experiences into STEM content, helping students engage their full bodies and expressive selves. This kind of engagement has been demonstrated to help students retain content and improves test scores and attendance.

My work with Story Tapestries began in summer 2018. I joined the team as a teaching assistant, supporting a visual artist to lead Neelsville Middle School students in Germantown, Maryland to design and create two murals for their school. One student in particular, “John,” stands out when I reflect on that summer program. John was incredibly quiet, didn’t engage with many of the other students, and never raised his hand when the group was asked a question. When we brought out the paints to start realizing our design, he worked silently on his corner, intensely focused. Cleaning spilled paint out of my hair (one of the tubes had exploded), I saw John working on his corner of the mural, intensely focused. I stopped and watched while he carefully applied the paint, blending from lavender to deep purple that just pulled you into the piece.

I flashed back to my middle school self as I watched John paint. I recognized his shyness in myself. I recognized his inability to easily engage with his peers, his hesitancy to raise his hand even though he knew the answer to our questions. At the moment, another student was walking behind John, stopped, and asked, “How’d you do that?!” pointing to the gradient purples. From that moment John became a consultant to other student’s mural sections. He helped others blend their paint, get a clean edge, and troubleshoot issues. I witnessed John become visible to himself and to his peers.

In my new role, every time I visit Neelsville Middle School to support our continued programming at the school and pass that mural, I see another section of John’s handiwork that I hadn’t noticed before. I always pause and take a moment to remind myself what incredible power arts experiences have for students (and had for me, when I was John’s age). I know for myself, the confidence and voice I found in my youth through artmaking supported me in all of my subjects, helped me connect with peers and teachers, and made me feel more of a part of the school community.

As we enter into the season of gratitude and giving, I am grateful for these moments to reflect on the impact your support helps us make in the lives of the young people and school communities we serve. The programming we provide at Neelsville Middle School and schools across the region help students find their voices, to connect more fully with each other and the content they are learning, and improve their academic achievement.

We would love the opportunity to connect as we approach the end of our calendar year. If you are local to the Washington Metropolitan area, mark your calendars for December 10 when Story Tapestries will be performing as a part of the World Holiday Bazaar in Silver Spring. If you are not local to the area, please join us on Facebook. Reach out, comment on our posts, or send us a note and let us know what you are grateful for!

Neelsville Mural

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Oct 25, 2019
Connecting STEAM to Community Conversations

By Tyler French | Innovation and Partnerships Director

Performers at Amplify US!

STEAM education, as with most models of engaging students, is most effective when deeply connected to the conversations happening in the world around us. We recognized students come into our classrooms primed by these conversations and are ready to dive into them when prompted. Through our residencies in all subjects, we welcome these opportunities to engage with these conversations and integrate both local and national current issues into our lesson plans. I wanted to share with you an outcome from a recent event that highlights the necessity of supporting integrated educational models where science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics are tied back to the world around us.

On October 5, 2019, a group of family, friends, new acquaintances, and strangers gathered at the Strathmore Mansion for our Amplify US! event. We were there to share in poetry, storytelling, and conversations about race, difference, and connection. In addition to professional poets, community members, and an excited audience, two youth performers who we have previously engaged in our programming lit up the stage with their poetry and storytelling.

It’s difficult to capture in words the feeling of the room. The conversations were not necessarily easy or without discomfort, but all were warm and caring. They felt urgent and necessary. Every person who showed up was meant to be there. People lingered longer than usual, already late for a Saturday evening. The performances and conversation created a kind of gravitational force and held us there. Primed by the performances, audience members leaped into conversation with each other, discussing aspects of their lives rarely shared with strangers. The conversations engaged intergenerational connections across race and nationality and the event spilled over its end time as audience members were reluctant to end their conversations.

Why this urgent need for dialogue?

In 2017 Montgomery County Police reported a 26% increase in bias incidents compared to the prior year (linked below). Of the incidents reported, roughly half were motivated by bias toward religion and half were motivated by bias toward a race or ethnicity. Over that year, there was a 48% increase in the number of incidents in which a school or college was a target of a bias incident. Among known subjects of all bias incidents in 2017, the dominant offender group is males (44 of the 53 known subjects were males). Additionally, 33 of the 53 subjects were under the age of 18, a 267% increase over 2016.

As you can see from these statistics, the impact of these incidents is very much connected to our work in schools. By bringing these conversations into our STEAM residencies, we ensure more students are able to add their voices to the conversation, to be a part of dreaming up solutions. I would like to invite you to follow our programming and the conversations our students are adding their voices to by joining us on Facebook, or following along in our blog.

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Oct 4, 2019
Full STEAM into the School Year

By Tyler French | Innovation and Partnerships Director

Students Engaged in Visual Arts Activities

As we move full STEAM into our school programs and residencies this school year, we are starting to hear common themes emerge from our conversations with students. They are trying to find belonging in their schools and communities, to address injustices, and to develop their voices to speak their stories and make sure they are heard. Through our residencies we witness students developing their capacities to find their authentic voice and using those voices in all of their classes. Story Tapestries gives students tools and safe spaces to practice and in turn the students not only improve their academic achievement and connect more fully to their subjects but also are empowered to speak louder, to ensure they are heard and that we listen. Story Tapestries helps students amplify their own voices, voices that are completely theirs and only needed time with our artists to develop into clear, engaging communicators. We could not do this work and reach these students without your support.

Recently, Karina, an 8th grade student who has engaged in multiple Story Tapestries in-school residencies and programs, read a poem to open the Montgomery County Council Session that commemorated the 400th anniversary of slavery in the United States. She stepped up to the mic filled with nerves, but her poem transformed the room. She is beginning to see the power her voice has. Even though the moment was acknowledging a terrible travesty in our country’s history, and her poem does not flinch away from that, she concluded with so much hope and resolve demonstrating that a single poem really can rally us to make a difference.

Click here to hear her poem: Karina Performing For the Montgomery County Council on Tuesday, September 10th, 2019.

Encounter first hand the power of our collective human voice at the 2019-20 opening performance of Amplify US! at the Strathmore Mansion on October 5th at 7 pm. In this event, Story Tapestries in collaboration with Arts on the Block and Impact Silver Spring work together with the support of Strathmore to unite the voices of the past with those of our future in a dynamic performance and community dialogue. Come and experience moving stories from our community, listen and connect with those around you, and find the power of your voice. Karina along with a slate of incredible poets and storytellers will be performing. You can join the conversation by reserving your ticket here - Amplify US! Eventbrite. If you are local, we hope to see you there!

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