Carline Seide-Murphy, Teaching Artist-Teacher Training Institute ParticipantI am a native of Haiti and a passionate advocate of the arts in society and in the schools. MDDF's Teaching Artist-Teacher Training Institute helped deepen my understanding of arts and dance in education partnerships. I have two talented daughters participating in a variety of arts programs. My late son was an avid visual and musical artist. I am currently Arts in Education Director of the Columbia County Council on the Arts in Hudson, New York. I am also Founding Director of the Haitian Community Development Project, a not-for-profit organization providing social and cultural opportunities to the immigrant residents of the mid-Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of New York State. Besides my administrative experience, I have worked as a medical and social worker. I look forward to continuing the learning that began with the MDDF Teaching Artist-Teacher Training Institute 2006-07.
Linda Goldsmith, Parent Learning Leader & VolunteerPersonally I read one of the journals of one of the children in PreKindergarten or Kindergarten. And I read a journal that said, "I come alive when I'm in dance class." She said, "I feel sad majority of the time. But when I come to dance class, Miss Maria lifts my spirits." I found that so touching.
JoAnne Ellis, Visual Arts Teacher & MDDF Partnership CoordinatorI work in a challenging school in Far Rockaway, Queens where 93% of our population is on free or reduced lunch. I have been the visual arts teacher in the building for 11 years. Mark DeGarmo & Dancers/Dynamic Forms Inc. came into our lives and our building five years ago working with four 5th grades. This year through our continuously growing partnership we now have dance for all of our 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades (almost 400 students). I see teachers who were hesitant to participate becoming active advocates of dance and the arts through this partnership in our school. I see passion for the arts and the journal writing which is an integral part of MDDF's program blossoming in our building. I see parents participating with joy and abandon in workshops with their children. Dance and movement have brought discipline, excitement, and passion for the arts and dance to a generation of children who are needy for the arts. DeGarmo's partnership with PS/MS 43 has confirmed my innermost certainty of the value of integrated arts in our school curriculum.
Steve Barrientos, PrincipalStuart Pyle, Music Teacher and MDDF Partnership Coordinator
I work on the Lower East Side in a wonderful but challenging school where a large percentage of students qualify for the Federal Free Lunch program and a great emphasis has been on helping raise test scores for students. Over the past seven years of partnership with MDDF, we have seen tremendous improvement in literacy and numeracy among students who have participated in the dance partnership and great strides in athletic ability and self esteem among our special needs population, as well as our general education kids. The teaching artists from DeGarmo's organization are top notch and really become an integral part of the fabric of the school. They are very interested in the classroom curriculum at each grade level and work with classroom teachers, coaches, and teaching specialists to help those children who learn through a body-kinesthetic approach. In addition, classroom teachers work with the students on reflective activities such as journaling after each class to help the learning sink in. Dance has become the premier art form taught at our school, across the grades.