Classroom Visits

Karen Erickson September 13-15, 2011 Request due by August 30, 2011
Karen L. Erickson has been a Professional Teaching Artist for more than 20 years. As Executive Director of Creative Directions, she trains artists and teachers in drama education, curriculum planning, arts integration, and assessment development nationally and internationally. Ms. Erickson continues her work as a playwright and stage director in addition to authoring seven drama education books used in schools throughout the country. Ms. Erickson has written more than 15 plays for youth and adults produced by theater companies across the United States. She works with the Kennedy Center's professional development programs including Changing Education Through the Arts (C.E.T.A.). Ms. Erickson is a certified teacher in English, speech communications, and theater education for grades K-12. She co-wrote the Illinois Arts Goals, Standards, Performance Descriptors and Chicago Drama Benchmarks in addition to a state book on Fine Arts Integration.

Beth Radford- September 27, 2011 Request due by September 13, 2011
Beth Radford is an Arts Integration Specialist at Pine Street Elementary School in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She was as a classroom teacher at Woodland Heights Elementary for 8 years. Woodland Heights, a Title 1 school, was recently named an Arts-in-Basic Curriculum School. With a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and a Masters in Reading from Clemson University, she has over 10 years of experience working with students of diverse backgrounds and has spent many years integrating the arts into her classroom curriculum. Named Teacher of the Year twice, District Teacher of the Year, and Peace Center for the Performing Arts POP! Teacher of the Year, Beth has the unique experience of directing workshops and mentoring teachers on their journey of incorporating drama into the curriculum.

Sean Layne- November 8-10, 2011 Request due by October 25, 2011
Sean Layne, a native of the Washington, D.C. area, received a B.F.A. degree in acting and studied acting in London, England. He is founder of a national arts education consulting company called Focus 5 Inc. This company focuses on arts integration across the curriculum for grades Pre K-12. Mr. Layne presents professional development workshops for teachers, and has designed training seminars for teaching artists nationwide for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is also an Arts Coach for the Kennedy Centers Changing Education Through the Arts program. For over a decade Mr. Layne acted, directed and designed sets for the InterAct Story Theatre, a professional theatre company that has served more than 4,000 schools, museums, libraries, and festivals around the world.

Melanie Layne- January 9-11, 2011 Request due by December 5, 2011

Melanie Rick Layne, a National Board Certified Teacher, certified Reading Specialist, and arts integration consultant, designs and leads workshops, in-depth courses, and summer institutes focused on arts integration and how to integrate visual art, poetry, and portraiture throughout the K-8 curriculum. She has worked in art museums, schools, and arts centers across the country, and frequently collaborates with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Melanie is a course leader and program consultant for the Kennedy Centers Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) program in Washington DC. As the CETA program consultant, she works with teaching artists to develop and evaluate workshops presented at the Kennedy Center.

Lenore Blank Kelner- February 28-29, 2012 Request due by February 14, 2012
Lenore Blank Kelner is a professional actress, director, author, and educator. Since 1981, Ms. Kelner has directed her own educational theater company, Interact Story Theatre. Interact performs in schools, museums, libraries, and theaters all over the United States. In addition, Ms. Kelner serves as an education consultant to the Maryland State Department of Education as well as school systems and schools nationwide. She has trained thousands of teachers in how to integrate drama into everyday classroom instruction. She has worked with students in all grade levels from Pre K through college. She has written three books on drama and education. Her most recent book, A Dramatic Approach to Reading Comprehension, which she co-authored, was published by Heinemann in 2006. She is the recipient of the 2004 Creative Drama Award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.

Eric Johnson- March 12-14, 2012 Request due by February 27, 2012
Eric Johnson is the dance specialist for twelve Seattle public and private schools and a leader of professional development workshops for educators nationally and internationally. Since 1985, he has traveled to sites from Florida to Alaska sharing strategies with teachers for lesson planning, assessment, classroom management, and integration of movement and dance into the classroom. Mr. Johnson teaches educators annually in Japan under the auspices of Japan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), and is an artist/mentor for individual classroom teachers for Arts Impact of Tacoma, Washington, one of 19 projects honored nationally by funding from the U.S. Department of Education. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.