Free arts integration “hands-on online” professional development for teachers

By Crawford County Now Staff April 1, 2022 8:57 am

MANSFIELD—The Mansfield Partners in Education Team, comprised of the Renaissance Performing Arts Association, the Mansfield Art Center, and Mansfield City Schools, will host a professional development workshop on arts integration for elementary and intermediate educators, and administrators on Thursday, April 7, 2022. The workshop is an asynchronous, hands-on online session, combined with Zoom as a platform, and led by Kennedy Center Teaching Artist Mimi Herman; thus allowing those registered to participate from any location using their own laptop or other device. The registration fee for the workshop has been covered for all participants through the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council and Charles P. Hahn, CFP, of Cleveland Financial Group.

Kennedy Center teaching artist Mimi Herman will lead her workshop entitled, “Coming to America: Discovering History Through Poetry,” for teachers serving students in grades 3-12. Says Ms. Herman, “You arrive, with nothing but a trunk and a few members of your family, at Ellis Island, where you have to learn how to live in a whole new country without leaving your own culture behind. Through poetry, social studies, and theatre arts, participants will experience an engaging, hands-on approach to teaching history and English Language Arts through poetry and drama. As we immigrate we will integrate, weaving the arts seamlessly with your state standards to provide you with a deep understanding of the complex process of becoming an American.”

The professional development workshop will be presented from 4:30 until 7:30 PM, and participants will receive a Zoom link upon completing their registration. Registration is available at https://mimiherman2022.eventbrite.com Contact hour verification for CEUs are available for participants. For more information, call 419-522-2726 ext. 252 or email [email protected].

Mimi Herman has taught over 25,000 teachers and students—many of whom would rather scrub a bathtub than write a poem—to fall in love with writing and integrate the arts across the curriculum. Mimi is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist and director of the United Arts Council Arts Integration Institute.

Since 1990, Mimi has engaged students and teachers with arts integration residencies, as well as designing and providing professional development for teaching artists, teachers, and administrators throughout the country. She has taught in the Masters of Education and EdD programs at Lesley University and has been an associate editor for Teaching Artist Journal.

Mimi holds a BA from UNC-CH and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College. With her partner, John Yewell, she offers Writeaways writing workshops for writers in France, Italy, and North Carolina. You can find her at mimiherman.com and writeaways.com.

The Renaissance Theatre is a performing arts theater located at 138 Park Avenue West, Mansfield, Ohio. Looking for things to do in Mansfield? Visit Renaissance Theatre’s website at rentickets.org to check out other great events or contact [email protected] for events, tours, arts, culture, and more. For behind-the-scenes videos and more visit the Renaissance Theatre’s YouTube Channel.