STAFF, STUDENTS, & COMMUNITYCarline Seide-Murphy, Teacher Training Institute Participant I am a native of Haiti and a passionate advocate of the arts in the schools. MDDF helped deepen my understanding of arts and dance education partnerships. I am Arts Education Director of Columbia County Council on the Arts and Founding Director of the Haitian Community Development Project. I have worked as a medical and social worker. I look forward to continuing the learning that began with the MDDF Teacher Training Institute.
Linda Goldsmith, Parent Learning Leader Personally I read one of the journals of one of the children in PreKindergarten or Kindergarten. And I read a journal that said, "I come alive when I'm in dance class." She said, "I feel sad majority of the time. But when I come to dance class, Miss Maria lifts my spirits." I found that so touching.
JoAnne Ellis, Visual Arts Teacher I work in a challenging school in Far Rockaway, Queens where 93% of our population is on free or reduced lunch. MDDF came into our lives 7 years ago working with 4 classes. We now have dance for almost 400 students. I see teachers who were hesitant to participate becoming active advocates of dance and the arts through this partnership. I see passion for the arts and the journal writing which is an integral part of MDDF's program blossoming in our building. I see parents participating with joy and abandon in workshops with their children. Dance and movement have brought discipline, excitement, and passion for the arts and dance to a generation of children who are needy for the arts. DeGarmo's partnership with us has confirmed my innermost certainty of the value of integrated arts in our school curriculum.
Stuart Pyle, Music Teacher I work on the Lower East Side in a wonderful but challenging school where a large percentage of students qualify for the Federal Free Lunch program and a great emphasis has been on helping raise test scores for students. Over the past seven years of partnership with MDDF, we have seen tremendous improvement in literacy and numeracy among students who have participated in the dance partnership and great strides in athletic ability and self esteem among our special needs population, as well as our general education kids. The teaching artists from DeGarmo's organization are top notch and really become an integral part of the fabric of the school. They are very interested in the classroom curriculum at each grade level and work with classroom teachers, coaches, and teaching specialists to help those children who learn through a body-kinesthetic approach. In addition, classroom teachers work with the students on reflective activities such as journaling after each class to help the learning sink in. Dance has become the premier art form taught at our school, across the grades.
Steve Barrientos, PrincipalSELECTED QUOTES
Middle School Student, MS 135, Bronx
Mark DeGarmo & Dancers connects dance with the world.
Jessica Carrion, 1st Grade Teacher, Queens
Last year I was able to see the children in a new light. Some of the student vocabulary enrichment included: elements of dance, levels in space, patterns, locomotion, overlapping, counterpoint and intensity. There was a lot of thinking and problem solving involved for the students to do in order to accomplish the activities, not just random movement.
Wendy Pass, 2nd Grade Teacher, PS 81, Bronx
You make dancing a wonderful, fun experience and at the same time a tremendous learning activity.
Judith Pinals, Arts Coordinator, New Rochelle, NY
The culmination of the class experience was a performance at Davis School by Mark DeGarmo & Dancers. Before each piece, a dancer spoke with the children giving them elements to look for and focus on in each dance. The audience was quite engaged and attentive. It was fabulous! Each teacher then followed up the performance with art, rhythms, discussions and stories. Geography was out of the post-dance process as well, since the program was entitled, Dance Around the World.
Marlene S. Filewich, Acting Superintendent, Community School District 11, Bronx
Mark DeGarmo & Dancers have offered a highly professional, extremely creative, performing arts residency and workshops. The response from students, parents and teachers to this dance experience has been uniformly positive and has increased understanding of how the arts are essential to education and learning. The teaching artists are familiar with the new learning standards and work along with classroom teachers to develop critical thinking or evidential reasoning skills.
Dr. Angelo Gimondo, Former Superintendent, District 30 Queens
This is an outstanding New York City cultural organization that has received past recognition for the excellence of its Schools Partnership Program: A Comprehensive Arts Education ... Its excellent interdisciplinary and intercultural programs use the art of dance and creative movement to illustrate and enrich the study of the arts and other curriculum areas.
