Arts and Humanities for Every Student
JANUARY 2021
SCHOOL PARTNERS NEWSLETTER
Dear Educators,

Happy New Year educators! We hope that you were able to relax, reset, and become reinvigorated as we begin 2021. The DC Collaborative team is continuing to work on your behalf to provide you and your students access to valuable arts and humanities resources and opportunities. Please continue to make use of our DC Collaborative Distance Learning Resource Database that is now populated with 200+ digital and downloadable materials from DC Collaborative cultural institutions and teaching artist members. The database will be continuously updated with curricular guides, virtual field trips, and other educational activities to enhance students’ at-home learning experiences as well as Professional Development for educators. These resources are free and accessible anytime. Follow us @DCCollaborative on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to see featured listings!

Questions? Contact [email protected]
Table of Contents:
  • DC Collaborative Announcements
  • AHFES News
  • Teacher PD Opportunities
  • Student Opportunities
  • Activism Through Art: Black Lives Matter
  • Distance Learning Resource Database
DC COLLABORATIVE UPDATES
The DC Collaborative wants to welcome Ashlee McKinnon, who is our newly hired School Partnerships Manager. We are so glad to have her on board to continue to steer the work of the DC Collaborative towards serving every student in DC public and public charter schools. Ashlee is the main point of contact for teachers and administrators wishing to utilize DC Collaborative programs.

Ashlee McKinnon serves as the School Partnerships Manager at the DC Collaborative. Ashlee has always connected her passion for arts enrichment and education with the school system, serving as a K-12 Dance Educator in the DMV for 10 years. She has worked with and alongside prominent arts organizations in the area, such as Dance Place, Story Tapestries, and Imagination Stage, as a champion for equitable youth development and enriching arts programming. Ashlee is an alumnus of the University of Maryland at College Park and Princeton Theological Seminary, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Master of Divinity degree respectively. Her membership in the Arts Administrators of Color Network and as an ambassador with Arts Education in Maryland Schools shape her perspective on equitable and diverse arts and humanities programming for our future generations. In addition to her professional work, Ashlee is still a performer at heart and continues to hone her craft with BREathe Dance Project and AftaShock DC. She has been blessed to dance on the stages of and create artistic works for Bowie State University, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Sitar Arts Center, and a feature on CBS This Morning in 2017. You can reach Ashlee at [email protected].
AHFES NEWS
Registering for our Winter Arts and Humanities For Every Student Program?
Questions?
FEATURED PROGRAM
National Cherry Blossom Festival Student Art Gallery
Free Art Supply kits for the first 250 to register!
Registration deadline: January 31

The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival Student Art Gallery will take place not in the form of a competition, but a public gallery exhibition in 2021! We had splendid artwork submissions from 2020 that we hope will encourage even more participation in the new year.

While the National Cherry Blossom Festival will look different this year, we are happy to announce an exciting opportunity for students to safely continue some traditions from home. Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival and DC Collaborative jointly invite grades K-12 students from DC public, public charter, and Japanese schools to participate in the Student Art Gallery. The theme is “Home is Where the Blossoms Are”, with a special focus on Friendship. What better way to celebrate the season? Instead of a contest, this year all artworks submitted will be exhibited online and in public and 250 participants will receive art kits. Register students for art kits using this electronic registration form by January 31, 2021. The deadline to submit artwork is March 12, 2021, you can submit individual entries using this electronic submission form. All artwork will be exhibited on the National Cherry Blossom Festival website, displayed on a large screen in Gallery Place, and showcased on screens at several Chase branches in the DC area.
TEACHER PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
The DC Collaborative announces new Professional Development (PD) experiences from our partner organizations. PD opportunities are open to all educators in the DC public education system. Please peruse DCCollaborative.org/PDRegistration to view experiences from our members.
State Board Launches Survey of Public-School Teacher Experiences During Virtual Learning 
Complete Survey by January 29, 2021
 
Washington, DC—The D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) has launched an anonymous, online survey for public and public charter school teachers in the District of Columbia. The State Board seeks to understand the thoughts and experiences of teachers during virtual teaching, their perceptions of their student’s success in virtual learning, and what supports they need to work effectively. The State Board also wants to learn about other important factors public-school teachers have experienced while teaching virtually and their thoughts on returning to in-person teaching and how that correlates to retention.
The survey, administered by the State Board in partnership with Resonant Education, is open to traditional public and public charter teachers who currently hold a teaching position in the 2020–21 school year. The survey is anonymous and confidential and the aggregated results of the survey will be published in a report to inform strategy and policy recommendations for the State Board and other District education leaders.
The survey should take approximately 15–20 minutes to complete on any device that can connect to the internet. The survey is open until Friday, January 29, 2021. Teachers can access the online survey here: http://bit.ly/SBOEAllTeacherSurvey.
If you have any questions about this survey, such as how it is being conducted or how the results will be used, please contact John-Paul Hayworth at [email protected].
 
About the SBOE
The D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) is an independent agency within the Government of the District of Columbia that advises the District on education policy. The State Board is not involved in staffing or hiring decisions in traditional public, public charter, or private schools. The State Board is not an affiliate, in any way, of DC Public Schools (DCPS), any charter school, or any other government agency. The State Board is an independent voice on educational issues. The insights gathered in this survey may help the State Board understand how the District of Columbia’s public schools, including individual schools, can support teachers and students.
 
For the latest information on the District Government’s response to COVID-19, please visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
 
Contact: Milayo Olufemi
202-710-4641
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Free, Interactive Humanities Workshops

SAAM's Wednesday afternoon workshops include topics aligned with the DCPS Scope and Sequence for just-in-time ideas for virtual instruction:



All workshops are free, interactive, and 90 minutes or less.
STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES
Golden Haiku Poetry Contest

Calling all aspiring poets from around the neighborhood and around the world: The Golden Triangle BID’s eighth annual Golden Haiku poetry contest will begin accepting entries on January 6, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. EST. This year’s theme is “Daydreams & Musings,” inviting poems that offer a sense of escape and reflection from many perspectives. A submission form will appear on this page on January 6. Poets are invited to submit up to three original, self-authored haiku until February 7, 2021. Winning poets will receive prizes and recognition, and winning haiku will be shared on social media and displayed in the neighborhood beginning in March 2021.
Thanks to a generous grant from the DC Commission of the Arts and Humanities, Dumbarton House was able to host 240 DCPS students for virtual field trips last fall! In our Capital Quest program, third through fifth graders enjoy learning about life in Washington DC in 1800 and why it was picked as the location for the capital of the United States. In our Parthenon to Portico program, third through eighth-graders learn how the art, architecture, and politics of the United States was influenced by Ancient Greece and Rome. Both hour-long programs are highly interactive and include a post-learning activity packet! Interested in scheduling a virtual visit for your own class? DCPS students are always FREE! Just fill out a field trip request form at bit.ly/DHclass20 or email us at [email protected]. We hope to see you soon! Thanks to Barnard ES for the photo!
The National Theatre Corporation

The National Theatre has upcoming Children's Theatre performances that take place virtually via Facebook Premiere. The third series of shows entitled "Imagine U- Life Now" begins on January 16th.
Artful Movement is sponsored through Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in partnership with Create Calm.

"Get ready to flex, bend, and strike a pose! During this live online learning webinar, young yogis will combine breath, stillness, and movement exercises to recreate a work of art, explore the senses, and discover mind-body connections. This mindfulness session is led by a yoga instructor from Create Calm.”   

Classroom teachers can sign up for a session and share the link with their students in PK-8th grade. 
 
Select from the dates below. Each program begins at 4:30 pm EST. 
 
January 22 for grades pre-K to 2: 
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mOouLTsiSoqaq-oMxdKi4g  
 
February 1 for grades 6 to 8: 
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LzIbx5-RS0myeJ1RdEjThw  
 
February 9 for grades pre-K to 2: 
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LEX5YifHTvKZN22_qTLu3Q  
 
February 18 for grades 3 to 5: 
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AE3mlfKxRFWQ3kRYqE79-w
Ways to Give
Donate to the DC Collaborative online or remit payment by check to:

DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative

The DC Collaborative is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

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The DC Collaborative is a recipient of an FY20 General Operating Support Service Grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
The DC Collaborative is proud to receive a grant for its Collective Impact work supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The DC Collaborative is the backbone support organization that leads members of the Any Given Child DC program, part of The John F. Kennedy  Center for the Performing Arts.