Two pieces of paper with words and collaged images against a blue background

English Learners Introducing Themselves Through Zines

Ashby McNeil is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at Falling Creek Middle School. In the 2018-2019 school year, McNeil implemented a project to help her English learner students express themselves in the classroom by sharing their personal journeys. Together with fellow ESL […]

A teenager reads a picture book to younger students in a classroom

Developing a Transformative, Integrated Humanities Program

In 2015, teachers in Midlothian, VA worked to develop an innovative and interdisciplinary Humanities program at Clover Hill High School. The initiative, led by Barbara Bingham and Rebekah Amato, aimed to help student academic performance and absenteeism by merging language arts with social studies classes. […]

A dome lit from within at night

Interdisciplinary Teaching Across an Arts-Integrated Middle School

Jonathan Walker is Assistant Principal at Binford Middle School. Prior to his current position, he was an English teacher at Binford and attended Partners in the Arts’ Joan Oates Institute during his early years of teaching. Jonathan has experienced arts integrated learning both in the […]

Learning at Home and School Through Makerspaces

Creating, making, and problem-solving can begin anywhere there is imagination, and imagination is free. In early 2020, you may have noticed rainbows hanging in windows of houses in your neighborhood. Maybe you saw posts about masks being made by novice sewers, raised garden beds being […]

The Art of the Memoir

What better primary source is there to study both history and memoir-writing than a WWII veteran? Partners in the Arts director Liz Sheehan visited Clover Hill High School to observe implementation of their Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) Award project, The Paths Project. Students in the […]

Integrating the Arts and Literacy

In 2012, Laurel Meadow Elementary School integrated the arts and literacy in a memorable learning experience for students. Art teacher Jamesha Hairston created an inspiring Partners in the Arts Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) Award project for Hanover County Public Schools: Laurel Meadow Lion’s Den: An […]

History in Musical Theater, Community in Classrooms

It’s good for the soul to spend time with creative teachers and their students. It’s good for students to see their culture reflected in the classroom. It’s good for teachers to integrate their subject matter across the curriculum. Partners in the Arts (PIA) helps make […]

A Learning Garden Where Curiosity and Creativity Grow

It’s hard not to smile admiring student artwork along the walls of a school. Partners in the Arts (PIA) director Liz Sheehan visited Greenwood Elementary School in Henrico County Public Schools to see the work 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders were doing on a large […]

Studying the Past to Embrace the Future

“How did they get the jail underground?” This was the question a fourth grader at Swansboro Elementary asked Selden Richardson, following his presentation about significant sites in Richmond’s history. It was in reference to the notorious Lumpkin’s Slave Jail which was unearthed in the Shockoe […]

a mosaic of painted tiles

Imprinting the Future with Bookbinding

Partners in the Arts (PIA) founder Joan Oates and director Liz Sheehan visited Spring Run Elementary in Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) to see part of a book-making teacher workshop organized by art teacher Michele Kelly. Michele was Spring Run’s Teacher of the Year in […]

Looking at the Past with Kindergarteners to Seniors

Powhatan High teacher Jane Brown developed Exploring the Powhatans: Past and Present as a project that integrates a wide range of subjects to explore the history, culture and contemporary lives of the Mattaponi Powhatan. Made possible by a 2010 Partners in the Arts’ Engaging Creative […]

Building a Schoolyard Aquatic Habitat

In the fall of 2010, Joan Oates, founder of Partners in the Arts (PIA), and director Liz Sheehan visited Hanover County Public School‘s Cold Harbor Elementary. Art teacher Joyce Crown-Wilkins and her school received an Engaging Creative Thinkers (ECT) Award from Partners in the Arts […]