|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THANKS FOR COMING TO HALIFAX — Superintendent of Schools Paul
Stapleton welcomed Del. Kenneth R. Plum to Halifax County on Tuesday
morning.
RHYMING EXERCISE — Turbeville Elementary kindergarten teacher Mrs.
Bliss (left) assists Mrs. Moon (right) of the Wolf Trap Institute
for
Early Learning Through the Arts with a rhyming game yesterday at
Turbeville Elementary. (Danny Lamberth photo)
Visiting artists from the famed Wolf Trap Institute for Early
Learning
Through the Arts returned this week to Halifax County Public
Schools,
and on Tuesday joined with Del. Kenneth R. Plum, a Democrat
representing the Reston-area 36th District. School officials honored
him with a certificate of appreciation for his extensive work in
bringing an important arts program to the county.
Speaking at a school system breakfast welcoming the artists, Plum,
also
a longtime educator, said he was an advocate of making opportunities
for children "for whom success is not immediately evident."
"You're on the right track — thinking outside the box with your
alternative programs," Plum told the school administrators.
Plum, a native of Shenandoah, has served as a member of the Virginia
House of Delegates for 28 years. He is a retired teacher and school
administrator and served as Director of Adult and Community
Education
for Fairfax County Public Schools. He currently serves on the
Legislative Advisory Council on Career and Technical Education and
the
Virginia Board of Education's Adult Education and Literacy Advisory
Committee, among others. "Del. Plum is a life-long advocate for
education, and he has been instrumental in bringing this important
opportunity to our elementary school students," said Superintendent
of Schools Paul Stapleton in a
press release. "He has provided us with vital connections within the
Wolf Trap Institute and Northern Virginia, and we are extremely
appreciative. We're pleased that he could take time from his
schedule
to be with us today, and we look forward to having him visit our
classrooms and see what the Wolf Trap Institute is accomplishing in
our
schools." Terlene Terry-Todd, a Wolf Trap dance and movement
specialist, said she loves working with little ones. "Young kids are
movers by nature," she said. "I give them a reason to move. They're
having fun and learning at the same time and they don't even know
it." Like her colleagues, Terry-Todd is also a performer; she is also a
freelance choreographer, a high school dance teacher who established
dance classes in Fairfax County high schools and she runs a private,
non-profit arts school. The artists' presence is as much for the teachers
as the children, she said. Wolf Trap leaves behind extensive
training tools for teachers to use year after year. "She's awesome,"
praised host principal Brenda Fuller of Meadville Elementary. Rising
Moon, who does drama, theater, storytelling and music, said for
small children, her lessons "open up their ability to express
themselves" without having to grope for the perfect words.
Artists this week will work with pre-kindergarten and early
childhood-aged students at the elementaries not visited last fall:
Meadville, Sydnor Jennings, Turbeville and Wilson Memorial.
The Wolf Trap artists visiting HCPS schools also include Kofi
Dennis, Terry Leonino, Greg Artzner. Accompanying the artists is
Phyllis Benner, associate director for the Wolf Trap Education
Institute. In addition to working with students, the artists will
conduct
professional development workshops for teachers to enhance their
understanding of performing arts and explain how to include the
performing arts in their regular instructional program. Some
workshops
include topics such as using drama techniques to develop critical
thinking skills, using dance to develop motor skills and movement,
and
using music to encourage focus and emerging literacy skills,
according
to the school system. The Wolf Trap artists will also conduct family
workshops at each school tonight for families of pre-k and early
childhood-aged students.
Participating schools will be providing further information to
parents
about this event.