STEM plus Arts = Learning Full STEAM ahead!

Part of what makes Story Tapestries programs effective is that they're designed to create interaction between participants; so when we bring performances and workshops to a family setting, like a public library, it creates an opportunity for parents and their children to share something special together and learn a bit more about each other. These experiences are memorable and fun and are at the heart of what puts the "A" in STEM - connecting people, ideas and information through the ARTS. Read on to hear reactions from participants and organizers of a recent Story Tapestries program at a Washington, DC library:

"We love these programs, such as Story Tapestries, for our children in the public library space and attend them often. They are enriching, exciting and bring storytelling to another dimension."

           -Parent and Woodridge Neighborhood Library user 


Story Tapestries was invited to share folklore, play music and create an interactive storyscape at the reopening ceremony of the Woodridge Neighborhood Library on October 1st. We've partnered with local libraries before, and this was yet another incredible experience to bring arts integration into the DC community. We're excited to highlight some of the library's amazing features as well as the initiatives being led by the DC public library system for our community.
 

  

Renovations at Woodridge Library were completed this summer (located at the corner of 18th St. NE and Rhode Island Ave). The library officially opened on September 28th and spans over 20,000 square feet, complete with updated study rooms, computer kiosks and a rooftop terrace for the general public.

"We're looking forward for the rooftop terrace to be used as a lounge area and additional reading space. The terrace overlooks a view of the neighborhood park and we're excited for the natural lighting the outdoors will bring to the library space," said Janette Graham, Woodridge Neighborhood Library branch manager.

Read more by clicking HERE!

We're happy to be able to share stories like this one that let you know how your dollars have made a difference.

Thank you for helping us make such programs possible!

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• Read more stories from Story Tapestries on our blog

We're excited to start a new academic year filled with programs for communities in need - empowering individuals to recognize and implement their inherent talents and skills and helping them build teams to create a greater positive impact sharing common goals. To start off the new year, we'd like to share with you, our loyal supporters, a story from an artist's perspective that shares about an event several Story Tapestries artists participated in within our home community of Montgomery County, Maryland. Read below about how all artistic disciplines weaved together brought stories and the world around us to life - books that unfold the magic of science, math and technology in interactive and entertaining ways.

Thank you for being part of the amazing network that makes arts education programs possible!

The Scoop:

Several of our artists had the pleasure of leading programs at the Strathmore for their annual Discover Strathmore festival to kick off summer.

ST Artist, Barbara Effron, shares about her experience:

Discover Strathmore, a free, family-friendly festival, is an annual neighborhood tradition providing an up-close look at the many offerings of this multi-disciplinary arts center.
 
This year’s theme, “Discover Strathmore Off the Page,” presented in association with Story Tapestries, celebrated the “way we tell stories through various forms of artistic expression - like song, spoken word, puppetry, and film.”

Blog contributor, Barbara Effron, performing at Discover Strathmore 

I was delighted to join with ten artists from the greater D.C. area for this wonderful family day. What a treat to hear Jamaal Collier engage his audiences with his beatbox and rapping style, to watch so many children join Diane Macklin on stage to create an adaptation of an Aesop’s fable, and to listen to The Fourth Wall tell “The History of the Toy Soldier” – featuring a flutist dancing like a mechanical ballerina, and a trombonist simulating a sword.

I opened my storytelling set with a story song, “King Kong Kichie, Kichie Kimee-oh”, followed by my musical adaptations of two folktales -- “Wide Mouth Frog,” told with puppets, and “The Old Woman and the Pumpkin.” Children and parents joined in the fun by singing...
discover more by clicking HERE!

Here's a short video of Arianna Ross performing at the Discover Strathmore festival:
https://vimeo.com/178718971

Additional News:

We are working with Total Learning Digital to make our dreams of building a Virtual Classroom come true! Read more about our project here. Sue Snyder, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized consultant in integrated and arts-infused curriculum design, development creativity and higher order thinking skills, early literacy and early learning, arts advocacy, and music education. She is president of IDEAS: Inventive Designs for Education and the ArtS, LLC, a consulting and publishing company dedicated to facilitating child appropriate educational models and programs. Sue connected with Story Tapestries and her platform for the Total Learning site will help Story Tapestries launch a Virtual Classroom site that brings the power of arts integration tools directly to teachers, teaching artists and parents 24/7. To make this a reality, ST needs to raise $5,000 by October 31 to set up our current website for the next steps toward this transition. If you are interested in supporting this initiative, see the ST Virtual Classroom Project on GlobalGiving.

Thank you!

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