around the coyote : education

Around the Coyote's Education Partnerships

"Whoever touches the life of a child,
touches the most sensitive point of a whole,
which has roots in the most distant past
and climbs toward the infinite future."

-- Maria Montessori

Chicago Park District Park Kids Program at the Wicker Park Fieldhouse
2006-present

Around the Coyote is pleased to host a series of courses at Wicker Park Fieldhouse for children between the ages of 6-12. We offer these neighborhood kids an opportunity for fun, exciting educational programs that nurture creativity, expand awareness of the arts, and build self-esteem. By the end of each course, students have completed several individual art projects and have enhanced their knowledge of the history of art while having fun in a positive, nurturing environment.

This program is run by Around the Coyote and taught by teaching artist, Lara Kastner, and her teaching assistants who share their technical expertise and passion for art with each student. Kastner studied Graphic Design from 1991-1993 at the University of Arizona, then studied abroad in 1994 at Lorenzo di Medici Institute of Arts in Florence. From 1995 to 1997, she lived in Prague, Czech Republic where she was a freelance artist as well as a teacher at Bumble Bee Preschool, an international English language school in Prague. In 2001 Kastner received her BFA in photography and fine art printmaking from the Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus Ohio. Upon graduating she worked in the curatorial department at the Columbus Museum of Art, became a member of Phoenix Rising Printmaking cooperative, with whom she exhibited her work in 2001 and 2002. Since 2002, she has been working as a professional photographer in Chicago. Her photos have been published in Metropolis, Gourmet, NY Times Magazine, Technology Review, Wall Street Journal, Saveur and many other newspapers and magazines. She is currently working on prepping 600 images for the Alinea cookbook which goes to print mid May. Kastner has been teaching for Around the Coyote since the fall of 2007.

There is no charge for the class and it meets every Tuesday afternoon. Signup occurs at the beginning of each semester through the Chicago Park District.

Around the Coyote would not be able to offer this free program for the Chicago Park District without the generous support of

Partnerships with Local Schools
In 2002, the Chicago Public School system launched the Community Schools Initiative after a study showed that students in Community schools had improved test scores, lowered mobility, increased contact with supportive adults in after-school settings and overall feelings of improved safety. The study also showed greater involvement of parents in the Community School Programs. As a result, Community schools also offer programs for parents, including job search assistance, General Education Development (G.E.D.) classes, and family counseling.

Salmon P. Chase Elementary School 2003 -2006

Chase, located in the predominately low-income, Hispanic community of Humboldt Park, has 840 students aged 4 - 14, more than half of whom are in a transitional bilingual program (Spanish-English). In 2003, Chase Elementary was chosen to become a Community school. Calling their program the Excellence Academy, Chase extended the school day in order to include new academic, athletic, and art classes. It was Chase's renewed interest in arts programming that brought them to Around the Coyote. Our partnership began in 2003, when Around the Coyote artist-instructors began working with students to create exciting projects in a wide variety of media. Classes included offerings in papermaking, painting, sculpture, bookbinding, illustration, graphic arts, mural art, music, photography, video and printmaking. Participating students exhibited their artwork and performed in two showcases at Chase each school year. The program culminated with a one-day gallery exhibition of the kids' artwork at the Around the Coyote Gallery in early June.

Drummond Montessori School
2006

Thomas Drummond School was built in 1893 and has long served the Bucktown Community, grades K-8. By the 1980s to accommodate enrollments of over 1,200 students, Drummond became one of the first year-round schools in the Chicago Public School System. In response to community needs, Drummond today enrolls approximately 300 students, ages 3-14, and prides itself in delivering high quality education on a small, personal scale.

Around the Coyote's partnership with Drummond Montessori ran throughout the 2006 school year after Drummond asked Around the Coyote to help develop and staff their after-school arts education curriculum. Our classes brought professional teaching artists to the classroom and gave students the opportunity to create unique works of personal expression through visual arts and drama. Our programming inspired children to think critically while helping them generate enhanced self-esteem through the arts. Around the Coyote and Drummond are committed to utilizing the arts as a catalyst to create shared and lasting experiences which connect student's to their lives, each other, and the creative potential within all of us.

Montessori is a revolutionary method of observing and supporting the natural development of children. Montessori educational practice helps children develop creativity, problem solving, social, and time-management skills, to contribute to society and the environment, and to become fulfilled persons in their particular time and place on Earth. The basis of Montessori practice in the classroom is respected individual choice of research and work, and uninterrupted concentration rather than group lessons led by an adult.

Interested in teaching or volunteering for Around the Coyote's after-school arts education programs? Email your teaching resume and a brief description of what age groups and art subjects you would be qualified to teach to education@aroundthecoyote.org.