Using Arts, Yoga & Mindfulness to Support Student Emotional Health

800 Race Street,New Orleans LA 70130

14 July, 2022

Description

Trauma and stress have significant impacts on K-12 student engagement. Art making and mindfulness reduce stress levels, deepen empathy, and give students multiple ways to communicate their feelings. Join arts educators Renee Benson & Celeste Kee and yoga teacher Valerie McMillan for a FREE interdisciplinary workshop on using mindfulness and the arts to support the emotional & mental health of students. Teachers will first participate in an all-levels, beginner-friendly yoga class to release stress and increase mindfulness. Then they will learn about the positive impacts of arts & mindfulness on student development, and leave with practical strategies to create a classroom culture of joyful, creative engagement for learners of all grade levels and abilities. K-12 teachers & teaching artists from all subject areas are welcome. Come dressed comfortably in clothes you can move and stretch in! Light snacks will be served.This workshop is co-presented by the New Orleans Arts Education Alliance in partnership with Young Audiences of Louisiana, The Ohm Well and NORDC, with funding provided by Baptist Community Ministries.About Valerie McMillanValerie is the Director of The Ohm Well and has been teaching yoga and Reiki for over 5 years. She is dedicated to creating a sacred space for all of her students on and off the mat. Her classes are a combination of poetic sequences and infectious rhythms designed to ignite the fire within each of us. Valerie’s classes are accessible to everybody and she promotes inclusivity and body positivity. In addition to teaching yoga, Valerie is an adjunct instructor, urban planner, advocate, and mom to Marley. She is currently balancing her new journey of being a mother with growing the Ohm Well community. About Renee BensonRenee Benson is a New Orleans-based singer, songwriter, poet and composer, and the Director of Education for Young Audiences of Louisiana. Renee has performed throughout the world, including at Glastonbury Music Festival, Popfest, Eurovision and Life Ball. In addition to her career as a vocalist, Renee teaches at Girls Rock (Austria), Young Audiences of Louisiana, NOMA and the Caravan Stage Theater Co. She also founded IN MY WORDS, an arts-intensive program for young women in the South Bronx. Building upon her rich performing arts experience, Renee spent three years at Young Audiences Charter School where she acted as a teaching artist, ELA teacher and founder of the school-wide mindfulness program. As a K-8 teaching artist, she collaborated with classroom teachers to organize, plan and execute highly impactful instruction in Math, Science, ELA and Social Studies using the artistic discipline of music, and worked to support academic, creative, social and emotional development through an arts-integrated framework. About J. Célèste KeeCélèste is the inaugural Director of the New Orleans Arts Education Alliance, and has two decades of professional experience in arts education which spans the K-12 public education, museum, nonprofit and research sectors. She began her teaching career in New Orleans and also taught in North Carolina, Georgia and Dubai, before obtaining her PhD in Arts Education from Penn State University. As an arts education researcher, she has published articles and book chapters, and been invited to present her work at international conferences. Célèste serves as a reviewer for arts research conferences, and sat on the editorial review board of Art Education Journal and Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education. She is passionate about the role of the arts in transforming lives.