On Friday, March 11, 2022, Literacy through the Arts’ Program Director, two Teaching Artists, and an LTA family traveled to Springfield, IL to present at the Illinois Reading Council (IRC) Conference.

Many teachers attended our presentation, which included a brief overview of our programming, history, and how we’ve affected the community. Ms. Brianna & Ms. Eleni, two District 20 teachers who partner with our programming to help District 20 kids, did a fantastic job creating an engaging power point and presenting alongside Ms. Laura. Additionally, two LTA children and their dad had the opportunity to talk about their experience with the program and what it’s meant for them and their family.

Highlights from the presentation:

• Two LTA children, JJ & Alyssa, and their dad described their experiences with LTA as enhancing their worlds through art and relationships. Alyssa told the crowd of teachers that learning to sew a family picnic blanket one summer lead to her current love of crocheting. She then pulled out a beautiful handmade crocheted dress. JJ enthusiastically shared the fun and excitement he experienced going to Chicago's Auditorium Theatre to see the Alvin Ailey dance performance and getting to meet an Alvin Ailey dancer afterwards. Their dad, Marty, shared his appreciation for the exposure his children are getting to the arts, as well as the increased opportunities to read with his children and spend quality time with his children and wife as a family.

• Ms. Laura taught choreography to “Danza Kuduro”, and the teachers danced and sang in Spanish to this fun and energizing song infused with Portuguese and Spanish words.

• Ms. Brianna guided the teachers through last summer's highlight video.

• Ms. Eleni lead a choreography game with the teachers. Through her leadership, we saw the teacher create dance movements inspired from the book Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move by JoAnn Early Macken. Each group taught and danced their movements to create a dance. It was a lot of fun!

Here are some responses from attendees:

“I loved all the different ideas of the different art forms that can be integrated.”

“The entire presentation was so interesting and informative.”

“[I was most inspired by the children,] the kids came and talked about their experiences and how it helped them.”

“Everything was so well done!”

We truly enjoyed our time sharing our Literacy through the Arts programming with teachers, authors, and administrators at the IRC conference this year!