Arts & Inclusion
In After-School Programming
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 
9 am to noon
Pease Public Library
1 Russell St., Plymouth NH
Cost: $15
Professional development credits are offered.

For after-school and out-of-school
administrators & staff
Family members and other interested
providers also welcome!

Note: This workshop is also offered Tuesday, May 28, 9 am to noon
at the Kimball Jenkins School of Art & Estate, Concord

After-school programs offer an unparalleled opportunity for using the arts (music, drama, movement and visual arts) as learning and enrichment tools for a wide range of students.  The arts at their best offer open-ended experiences where students can make choices, manipulate interesting materials and become engaged in exciting creative exploration. Including arts-based activities in after-school programs allows children to express themselves in unique and creative ways.  .

Since students with disabilities and special learning needs are included with typical peers in after-school programs, staff face the challenge of providing activities which suit a wide diversity of learning needs. Using the arts provides a level playing field for these learners – there is no “right” and “wrong” in the arts, and this is a great opportunity for successful peer interaction.

 This workshop will discuss the challenges that face after-school staff in finding and implementing successful and worthwhile arts activities. Staff members may not be artists, but they can learn how to identify resources, how to choose and implement projects, how to find artists and organizations to partner with, and how to use strategies for offering children successful experiences in and through the arts.

 The basis for this workshop is a Universal Design for Learning approach to planning arts activities. This approach guides development of activities that are broad enough to meet a wide range of needs.  A UDL plan includes:

*  presenting information about an activity in a variety of ways so that there is a choice of how a student will understand what the project includes

*   assuring that opportunities offered include appropriate ways for each student to create and participate

*   designing engaging activities that tap into individual students' interests and abilities

 Among the topics to be covered will be: how to locate community resources for arts activities; how to collect and use free materials; how to design projects that are easy to implement but are not “cookie cutter”; and how to provide art-making space that serves students with a wide variety of needs, ages and ways of working and learning. Attention will be given to serving typical learners and yet provide support and utilize adaptive strategies so that these activities work well for all students.

 The workshop will include hands-on examples for participants to actively engage in arts experiences and plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion, as well as a demonstration of adaptive tools and equipment which can be easily made to fit the specific needs of individual students. We'll exchange practical strategies for helping with behavioral, developmental and physical challenges and offer useful lists of books, materials and ideas for user-friendly ways to put art-making into practice.

 Presenter Deborah Stuart has spent decades working with young children and their teachers around the world. She serves as a national consultant and trainer in the field of arts and learning, and is the author of Start with the Arts, which links children’s literature and the arts as early learning tools.

Offered by: The Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire and VSA New Hampshire as part of their ongoing Arts in Inclusive Learning collaboration, provided under a contract with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Our thanks to Pease Public LIbrary for hosting..

 For more information: To learn more about the workshop or the Arts in Inclusive  Learning project, call 323-7302 or email info@aannh.org. The Arts Alliance is grateful for operating support from the NH State Council on the Arts.

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