Every year, the education department at Spoleto Festival USA works with local teachers, schools, organizations, and dedicated individuals to bring the vibrant offerings of the festival into the classroom.
We aim to motivate a spectrum of students, from those at-risk to the advanced, through artist visits and demonstrations, lessons and workshops, teaching partnerships and projects. Education activities are customized each season to capitalize on the specific skills and talents of festival artists and the needs of the participating students.
2008 Student Programs Include:
The Amistad Project
Teachers at Memminger Elementary School and Charleston Development Academy worked throughout the semester to create a unit of original lessons related to the Amistad story for subjects across the curriculum. Classroom visits by composer Anthony Davis and Amistad cast members Janinah Burnett and Gregg Baker complemented the lessons. The students finished the unit with a visit to the ship replica and the opera Amistad.
Amistad-Inspired Lessons
Please download and use in class.
Amistad Murals and Children’s Poetry (Elementary ELA)
By Jamison Browder
Making Mende Masks (Elementary Art)
By Amy Coleman
Play-Writing Aboard the Amistad (Elementary ELA)
By Lucille Hefka
The Triangular Trade and the Circular Seas (Elementary Science)
By Elizabeth Joyner
For Triangular Trade lesson, also see article, “Nike Athletic Shoes, Rubber Duckies, and Ocean Currents” to use in conjunction with Science lesson
College of Charleston Maymester Course An Introduction to the Arts through Spoleto Several festival participants visited the College of Charleston Maymester course, An Introduction to the Arts through Spoleto, to speak to students about their roles in Spoleto performances. Participants included:
David Coulter, Music Director, Monkey: Journey to the West Anthony Davis, Composer, Amistad Emmanuelle Favre, Set Designer, La Cenerentola Tim Nolen (Don Magnifico), La Cenerentola Nigel Redden, General Director, Spoleto Festival USA Lucy Pitman-Wallace, Director, The Burial at Thebes Marc Williams, Assistant Conductor, La Cenerentola
Jazz in School Jazz pianist Heloísa Fernandes led a workshop for young musicians from Buist Academy while in Charleston for her US debut. The students played a variety of instruments and learned traditional Brazilian rhythms and folk tunes.
Laurie Anderson Workshop Students from the Academic Magnet High School studied Laurie Anderson’s work as the foundation for a long-term project during their spring semester. During the Festival, the students attended the Conversations With interview and her newest production, Homeland. The culmination of the students’ project was a group discussion with Laurie Anderson.
Opera Set Design Workshop Throughout the spring semester, Stratford High School drama students read the Amistad libretto, and designed and constructed original set models with the guidance of College of Charleston set design and sceneography professor, Tricia Thelen. The students presented their final projects to Amistad set designer, Caleb Wertenbaker. The group finished the workshop by attending the opera Amistad.
Poetry Writing Workshop Charleston writer Jonathan Sanchez led a two-part poetry workshop with Memminger Elementary School students. The class attended a chamber music performance as part of the experience. Poems from the past two chamber music workshops are posted in Behind the Scenes.
Spoken Word and Movement Workshop Festival artist Mark Bamuthi Joseph of the break/s conducted a workshop exploring the intersection of spoken word and movement. Dancers from the Savannah School of the Arts and writers from the Academic Magnet High School attended, as did local poets and dancers.
Education and outreach also includes planning public programs that offer a deeper understanding of the festival artists, performances, and underlying themes through a variety of interviews, artist talks, lectures, tours, and panel discussions. See Conversations and More in the 2008 program.
The department is currently teaming up with local teachers to develop programs that will ultimately serve a wide audience of educators and students through online lesson plans and activities inspired by Spoleto Festival USA performances. Priorities include creating useful classroom materials that address a range of subject areas and standards by supporting teachers who are interested in lifelong learning, developing original teaching materials, and practicing the integration of arts into the traditional curriculum.
The Amistad Project Lessons related to the story of the Amistad have been developed by Memminger Elementary School and Charleston Development Academy teachers. This series of lessons will establish an online archive of festival-related educational materials.
Spoleto Teacher Blog Language arts teacher, Junius Wright, created a festival blog from a teacher’s perspective, including lessons, interviews, connections to the curriculum and teaching tools.
SpoletoTEACHERS Currently in development, the SpoletoTEACHERS program will invite active and interested teachers to submit applications to participate in a program that will bring teachers together to research and attend festival performances, and create original and ambitious lesson plans inspired by festival offerings. Lessons will be published on the educationSPOLETO website.
Education programs for Spoleto Festival USA 2008 were supported by the Post and Courier Foundation, The Jerry and Anita Zucker Family Endowment Fund, Smith Barney, and the Joanna Foundation.