Showcase
By Natalie Weiner
BAC Arts in Education Intern Spring/Summer 2010
Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) Program: A Personal Perspective
One of the most rewarding parts of being an intern in the Arts in Education department at the Brooklyn Arts Council is going to the culminating events at each different school. After seeing the excited students and their proud families, all the work that we do here at the office suddenly seems so much more important and worthwhile. A great example of this took place one June night when I went to Bedford Stuyvesant with my supervisor, Carol Sterling, to attend a performance at P.S. 40. CASA had provided a dance program for kindergartners.
Upon arriving, I was immediately surprised. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but P.S. 40 was vibrant and full of life - already the auditorium was filled with families and classmates, and the energy was palpable as the students prepared to perform.
The school had integrated the CASA class seamlessly with their other after-school programming, creating a performance that was memorable and special to the kids. Their performances were all based on The Lion King - integrating dance, music, theater, and even the school's competitive jump rope team, as students at all levels performed, in front of sets they had painted, in costumes they had made.
The kindergartners in the CASA dance workshops looked fantastic as they performed their dance routine to 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight,' their enthusiasm evident from the smiles on their faces. The level at which all the students performed was phenomenal. Any stage fright they may (indeed must, given the size of the audience) have had was completely imperceptible - I was awed by the students' poise.
More importantly, their excitement and skill revealed the impact introducing different art forms had on the students. Of course the students performing were fantastic examples of this influence, but for me, a seemingly minor experience ended up being just as poignant. I was sitting in the audience with the big, professional BAC camera when some students from the jump-rope team came and sat next to me. They asked me if I had taken any pictures of their performance, which of course I had.
After talking for a while, one of the students asked me if she could use the camera. My initial hesitance vanished once she had the camera, because she was completely captivated - fully absorbed in the process and, to be honest, so much more capable than I had expected. She was having a great time and learning simultaneously, which is basically the Holy Grail for anyone interested in education. In that moment, I was able to experience a microcosm of the importance of the CASA program as a whole - by exposing young people to professional teaching artists, by giving them the materials and necessary knowledge; we show that we believe in them, and their potential.
Natalie Weiner is a 2013 Bachelor of Arts candidate at Columbia University, where she is studying American Studies and Music. She hopes to attend graduate school to study arts education.
