Turnaround Arts: Des Moines

This episode is full of love and features an interview with the co-founder of Run DSM and Movement 515, Emily Lang. This Des Moines-based program offers opportunities for students to demonstrate leadership skills and mentorship through an anti-racist, student-centered lens.  We talk to Emily and the other guests about the importance of creating brave, safe spaces for students to explore expressing their voices, identities, and opinions. The episode also features the creative works of DMPS students and graduates Champagne Harrington, Victor Caldwell, and Tierre Turner who have all had experience in DMPS and Movement 515. This episode is full of love, joy, and inspiration. Listen to learn more about the power of spoken word poetry in and out of the classroom. Enjoy!

The episode contains a clip from Anderson Cooper's interview with Amanda Gorman on CNN.  

This episode is full of love and features an interview with the co-founder of Run DSM and Movement 515 Emily Lang. This Des Moines-based program offers opportunities for students to demonstrate leadership skills and mentorship through an anti-racist, student-centered lens.  We talk to Emily and the other guests about the importance of creating brave, safe spaces for students to explore expressing their voices, identities, and opinions. The episode also features the creative works of DMPS students and graduates Champagne Harrington, Victor Caldwell, and Tierre Turner who have all had experience in DMPS and Movement 515. This episode is full of love, joy, and inspiration. Stay tuned for the full episode tomorrow (3/3/21) to learn about the power of spoken word poetry in and out of the classroom. Enjoy!

Episode 2 explores a favorite arts integration tool, visual thinking strategies or VTS! The Des Moines team took a virtual field trip to the Des Moines Art Center for the exhibition Black Stories co-curated by Jordan Weber and Mitchell Squire. The exhibition presents artwork created by Black and African artists from the museums permanent collection. The group explores the question, how can viewing and discussing artwork support anti-racist work in our schools and classrooms?

SHOUT OUT! to Mia Buch, Museum Educator, and Jill Featherstone, Director of Education, for developing and facilitating this opportunity with our team and teachers!

SHOUT OUT! To the following Madison Elementary students for providing their voices...

5th Grade:

Raul, Sai Khaue, Danaya, Julie

4th Grade:

Nadya, Blake, Jacob, Paw Lay

Artworks discussed in this episode:

Wigs, Lorna Simpson, 1994

Iago's Mirror, Fred Wilson, 2009

...among the blades between the flowers... while the horse watches... for those who bear/bare witness, Ebony G. Patterson, 2018

Gladiators, Mitchell Squire, 2013

The Means to an End, ...A Shadow Drama in Five Acts, Kara Elizabeth Walker, 1995

Untitled,  Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1984

Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Samuel Adoquei

Episode 2 explores a favorite arts integration tool, visual thinking strategies or VTS! The Des Moines team took a virtual field trip to the Des Moines Art Center for the exhibition Black Stories co-curated by Jordan Weber and Mitchell Squire. The exhibition presents artwork created by Black and African artists from the permanent collection at the museum. The group explores the question, how can viewing and discussing artwork support anti-racist work in our schools and classrooms?  

SHOUT OUT! to Mia Buch, Museum Educator, and Jill Featherstone, Director of Education, for developing and facilitating this opportunity with our team and teachers! 

To kick off our third season in  the 20-21 School Year, we gather our team of arts- integration instructional coaches and host Winston Cox, Implementation Director of Turnaround Arts National at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. to dig into the root of our work to be anti-racist organizations and use the arts to amplify the voices of our students and communities. 

Social Emotional Learning is all the rage in education currently. Turnaround Arts: Des Moines works to elevate student achievement and school goals through our Priorities for Improvement Through the Arts (PITAs), one of which is Social Emotional Learning. Listen to our team of coaches dig into why the arts for SEL and how theater strategies create safe spaces for students to be seen, heard and tell their own stories for a culturally responsive approach to teaching social emotional skills.

In this second episode of our series on Equity through the Arts and SEL, our coaches chat with Teaching Artist  and Community Arts Partner with Art Force Iowa Yvette Zarod Hermann on  empowering student voice and in creating brave classroom spaces whether they be face-to-face or virtual. 

This episode was recorded in May 2020 and may not accurately reflect more recent news in education. 

Social Emotional Learning is all the rage in education currently. Turnaround Arts: Des Moines works to elevate student achievement and school goals through our Priorities for Improvement Through the Arts (PITAs), one of which is Social Emotional Learning. Listen to our team of coaches dig into why the arts for SEL and how theater strategies create safe spaces for students to be seen, heard and tell their own stories for a culturally responsive approach to teaching social emotional skills. 

In this first episode of our series on Equity through the Arts and SEL, our coaches chat with our partners at Des Moines Performing Arts on the power of the theater, drama in the classroom and adult professional learning. 

5th grade students at Findley Elementary participated in an artist residency with local teaching artist and educator Yvette Zarod Hermann. Throughout the residency students worked with Yvette to develop their drama skills to support a strong classroom community as well as their understanding of athletes and social change. Students collaborated in groups for their final performance task for the module using what they learned through the discipline of drama. Finally, students created a multi-part tableau using their bodies, voices and imaginations to showcase different athletes, their values, and how the athletes brought about change. Enjoy the episode!

Oak Park teachers reflect on their work with students for the 2019-2020 musical.

Harding Middle School Sixth Grade Literacy Students collaborated with Des Moines Artist, Musician and Producer Madison Ray to make music while exploring non-fiction topics and texts just prior to Spring Break.  Listen as Madison, teachers, students and coaches reflect on the beats made and connections built through the process of highlighting student voice through song. 

Cattell Elementary School staff members reflect on the 2020 musical: Jungle Book.  Shout out to all of the cast members, teachers, and family members of Cattell and our entire TA:DESMOINES family!!

This week's episode is a reflection of an artist residency at Madison Elementary School. Vic Caldwell, spoken word artist, worked with 3rd grade students to build their confidence and increase their connection with the classic Peter Pan story. Artist residencies play an integral role in Turnaround Arts: Des Moines by increase students engagement, social and emotional learning skills, and student belonging and thriving. Our community artists support students to find their voice and passion with the arts. Enjoy!

3rd grade students at Cattell share their expertise about frogs and their habitats through literacy, art, and music competencies.

Fourth grade students at Madison Elementary spit poetry on this episode of Turnaround Arts: Des Moines podcast. 4th grade classes began the year learning all about poetry using the book Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. Students interview each other on the impact of studying poetry and what inspires them to write. Listen as students share their experiences of reading, writing, and analyzing poetry.