Contact:      Kara Armstrong, karmstro@jccc.edu
Janell Rinne, jrinne2@jccc.edu
To register: www.KSMOPartnersInEducation.org

KS/MO Kennedy Center Partners in Education
Presents the 2024 Arts Integration Symposium

 

Overland Park, KS (June 24, 2024) The Kansas/Missouri Kennedy Center Partners in Education invite
educators to join them July 16th and 17th at the Liberty High School Performing Arts Center for a two-day
symposium exploring the power of the arts to engage students, strengthen comprehension and bring content
areas to life.

Midwest Trust Center Arts Education Program Director, Kara Armstrong, is proud of the continued evolution of
the symposium. “This year we will continue to offer a separate track for early childhood educators. Alex Espy,
Education Director for What If Puppets, will be joining for the first time as a presenter. We are also thrilled to
present Liberty School District educator, Garrett Brown’s, new program, BOOM! BANG! POW! Exploring
Cause and Effect Through Comics for 3rd-12th grade educators.”

The partnership has planned two days of inspiring, innovative, and practical content, including timely topics.
Breakout sessions are presented by a talented lineup of professional clinicians.

Presenters include:
Garrett Brown is a national teaching artist who specializes in cartooning, illustration and sequential art (comic
books). He earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Missouri Kansas City and a master’s degree in
Elementary Education from the University of Missouri St. Louis. While Garrett has over a decade of highly
qualified experience as an Art Specialist, it is his years as a classroom teacher that give him an appreciation and
perspective for designing projects that both students and teachers find engaging and worthwhile.

Harlan Brownlee understands the transformational power that the arts have to improve the quality of life for
individuals and the community. Harlan has worked in the field of arts integration for 38 years. He leads
residencies for students K-12, presents workshops for teachers, and has led training seminars for teaching artists
nationwide. Since 2002, Harlan has been a National Teaching Artist with the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts. He holds a BFA degree in dance with an emphasis in performance and choreography and a
MA in Educational Research and Psychology. In 2019, Mr. Brownlee joined the Focus 5 team, and that same
year was awarded a Young Audiences National Residency Teaching Artist Credential.

Lorena Cervantes has been the Dance Integration teacher at Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts and
Sciences in the Washington DC area for over a decade. She is also a national workshop leader for The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and a professional dancer. Ms. Cervantes was the 2017 recipient of the
Hispanic Teacher of the Year award and the 2018 recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation for
Fairfax County Public Schools.

Alex Espy serves as Education Director for What if Puppets, focusing on Arts Integrated Residencies that
mentor educators while fostering the social/emotional development of young people. Prior to What if Puppets,
Alex immersed himself in the world of early childhood development when he served as Artist in Residence at
EarlystART Childhood Development Center. In addition to this work, Alex has spent the past 20+ years
working in the field of Theater for Young Audiences. This has included creating original theater experiences for
the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, narrating multiple concerts with the Kansas City, and performing and
touring with The Coterie Theater.

Maria Schaedler-Luera is a Brazilian-born educator and artist who studied with acclaimed director Augusto
Boal and has taught classes and workshops that focus on Theatre of the Oppressed techniques for the American
Repertory Theater, Harvard Extension School, Lesley University, and several other organizations. She worked
at the Harvard Art Museums, developing and teaching gallery classes to immigrants in English, Portuguese and
Spanish. She is a National Arts Integration Consultant, one of the recipients of the 2019 Arts Leadership Award
from The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, and the winner of the 2022 Appleton Arts Integration
Award from the Van Wezel Foundation.

For more information about the KS/MO Partners in Education and a full list of sessions, visit KS/MO Partners
in Education.

Registration Information
Registration is $150 for the two-day symposium. Please visit KS/MO Partners in Education to learn more and
secure a spot.

About KS/MO Kennedy Center Partners in Education
Comprised of 2 school districts (Liberty, MO, and Shawnee Mission, KS) and 2 arts organizations (Kansas City
Young Audiences and Midwest Trust Center) in the Kansas City Metro area, the KS/MO Kennedy Center
Partners in Education is dedicated to inspiring the artist within by providing arts integration professional
development and support for local teachers.

With the goal of teaching the teacher, the partnership provides educators with innovative tools to help them in
their teaching. Educators then provide students with engaging and memorable learning experiences, creating a
ripple effect.

The Partners in Education program is a national partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts. Established in 1991, the program is designed to assist arts organizations throughout the nation
to develop or expand educational partnerships with their local school systems. The primary purpose of these
school/community partnerships is to promote the professional learning of teachers.

For more information, please visit KS/MO Partners in Education.

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For media inquiries, please contact, Kara Armstrong, karmstro@jccc.edu,
Or Janell Rinne, jrinne2@jccc.edu