Educators Spotlight Series. Through the eyes of local teachers, the Educators Spotlight Series gives insight as to how our Performing Arts Classes support art education for students and teachers. In these enlightening conversations, educators discuss how the class experience and follow-up materials assist them in engaging their students in further study.
Who are you? What school are you from and who do you teach? My name is William Eichler. I am an 5th and 6th grade Language arts teacher at Saint Donato School in West Philadelphia.
Does your school currently have an arts program? Our school unfortunately does not have an arts program per se so being able to participate in Merck Arts Education Center programs are an incredible opportunity available to our students.
Which classes have you taken here? My students have participated in the African dance and storytelling classes which combine African storytelling with dance and drumming.
What made you decide to take advantage of the Kimmel Center’s classes? What made me want to participate in the Kimmel Center’s classes was the fact that inner city students rarely get to experience the great culture that surrounds them. It’s a phenomenal opportunity to participate and be involved performing arts classes which are not readily available in school. Just being able to take the students into center city and be able to tour the Kimmel center is a great experience for them.
How have you been able to incorporate these lessons into your classroom curriculum? Our class involved story telling so it was quite easy to connect that to Language Arts and Reading. The students were able to learn about character and morals in stories.
In a word, how would you describe your overall experience here? Well, in a couple words, it gives culture to the students while being involved and having fun.