Little learners and their teachers get a boost from South Carolina Children’s Theatre

Coming soon to a pre-K classroom near you, some very special theater magic – for kids and their teachers.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and South Carolina Children’s Theatre have partnered to bring Wolf Trap’s customizable arts-based teaching and learning programs to early childhood classrooms in the Upstate. The partnership creates Upstate South Carolina Wolf Trap, the newest addition to Wolf Trap’s network of 28 affiliates across the United States and in Singapore.

A new vision for the arts in the Upstate

Upstate South Carolina Wolf Trap, operating locally as part of South Carolina Children’s Theatre, will deliver arts integration services to early childhood classrooms in Greenville, Pickens, Spartanburg, Laurens, and Anderson counties. South Carolina Children’s Theatre is the first Wolf Trap affiliate in South Carolina.

“Wolf Trap is headquartered in Virginia. It's a large theater, and they have a robust education program called the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts,” Katie O'Kelly, Managing Director of South Carolina Children’s Theatre, said. “They train affiliates in their program, which is geared towards that pre-K age group, using arts integration to promote literacy. This will allow us to get into more schools at an earlier age, but what is different about this is it's also professional development for teachers. Teachers will not have to be outside of their classroom to get their professional development hours, outside of their normal working day. They can get it while they're in the classroom.”

Teaching the teacher – and investing in students

In contrast to programs in which an artist-in-residence teaches students – which South Carolina Children’s Theatre will continue as well – Wolf Trap includes teachers in the process.

The program will teach educators how to integrate arts into their regular school day, in a way that is customizable to the needs of their classroom and course of study. This unique program will get teachers started with arts integration, allowing them to continue using and adapting the concept as needed.

“The idea is that we would teach them this, and then we can come back in and teach them a different skill, so that we can have this mutually beneficial relationship together,” O’Kelly said.

The program will kick off in the spring.

“This is being funded by the South Carolina Arts Commission for the first several years of the program, so that we can get it on its feet,” O'Kelly said. “We can provide free residencies to Title One low income schools. There's grant funding for other schools to be able to bring us in.”

O’Kelly said eight teaching artists are trained and excited to bring this program to Upstate classrooms.

“There's nobody else that's doing this around us, and we're really excited about the South Carolina Arts Commission funding this for us,” she said.

What to know

Upstate South Carolina Wolf Trap programs will be designed for children in preschool and kindergarten and their teachers and families. The program will introduce performing arts-based experiences that illustrate key curricular concepts such as literacy, math, and science, as well other skills including communication, collaboration, problem-solving and creativity. By incorporating song, movement, imaginative play, and musical instruments, these programs will equip teachers with skills to seamlessly integrate active, arts-infused learning into their daily instruction, enriching every child they teach.

Learn how your school can take part

To inquire about scheduling an Upstate South Carolina Wolf Trap Residency, contact Anna Bowman at anna@scchildrenstheatre.org .

For more information about Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, visit www.wolftrap.org/education .

For more information about South Carolina Children’s Theatre, visit scchildrenstheatre.org .

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Little learners and their teachers get a boost from South Carolina Children’s Theatre