Deer Isle-Stonington Schools: launching lifelong learners and
responsible citizens able to keep our island vital.

The Kennedy Center Partners in Education Program

Join us for our second season of professional development events! Opera House Arts and the Deer Isle-Stonington school district were proud to have been named, in 2007, one of 14 new national partners--the only ones in Maine. We know that teachers are dynamic figures in students' experiences in school. Their influence on learning and attitutes is profound. Our partnership is devoted to building on our area's unique creative heritage by using teaching artists to help teachers: enhancing professional opportunities to assist teachers in understanding the beauty, depth, and range of the arts; and to integrate artistic skills and practices into the curriculum; thereby working toward a model for the sustainability of small, rural schools.

• Download the 2008 brochure of professional development
• For more information on arts integration in our schools, click here
• Kennedy Center Partners in Education
• Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School

2008-09 Schedule

of professional development events for teachers
call 207-367-2788 to register, or register now with

October 9, 4 - 7 p.m.: Teaching Tolerance through Drama
with Stacey Coates.
For Teachers of Grades 3-12.
Tolerance-the willingness to respect or accept the customs, beliefs, or opinions of others-has become a focus in schools that are determined to protect students from bullying, taunting, and belittling. What is needed to help students learn to be accepting and respectful team players and protective leaders? This workshop addresses the question through drama strategies that build collaboration and respect in the classroom and result in teambuilding and the development of problem solving skills.

STACEY COATES is an educational and diversity specialist as well as a dramatist. She presents workshops for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington Performing Arts Society, and Interact Theatre in Washington, DC. As part of a commemoration of 9/ll, Ms. Coates was sent to India by the State Department in October 2002, where she presented Teaching Tolerance workshops and residencies to teachers and students from many different school systems. As a theatre director, she has worked on elementary, middle, high school, college, and community productions. Her production work has often involved adapting literature and historical texts for performance.

February 11, 4 - 7 p.m.: "Getting Started with Drama Integration, Part II: Managing and Creating the Lesson "
With Karen Erickson
For teachers of Grades 1-8
Picking up where Part I left off, this workshop demonstrates how the drama process can be transferred to students by introducing a model for independent planning and practicing. Participants also learn to use a variety of techniques designing lessons around stories. More management techniques are introduced, including teaching in role, viewing student work, and evaluating group cohesiveness. Participants move step by step through lesson planning process and leave with the tools to plan their own integrated drama lessons with confidence.

KAREN L. ERICKSON brings her 20+ years of teaching artist experience to Stonington for the second year as keynote speaker and workshop leader. As the Executive Director of Creative Directions, she trains artists and teachers in drama education, curriculum planning, arts integration, and assessment development while continuing her work as a playwright, stage director, and drama education author. Her most recent publication, The Arts: Keystones to Learning was published in 2005 and documented 26 arts integrated programs in the Chicago Public Schools.