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The Schools and the Arts: A Class Act!

A conference held in 2008 to promote partnerships among Macon/ Bibb County schools, teaching artists and arts institutions.

Conference Presenters: GCA Roster Teaching Artists

Randy Taylor

Arts Education Consultant, Museum Educator, and Teaching Artist, David Randall Taylor is on the rosters of Young Audiences, Wolf Trap Early Learning with the Alliance Theatre, the Georgia Council for the Arts and Fulton County Arts Council. Randy has served as instructor for the High Museum of Art teacher institutes, and he coordinates the after-school enrichment programs for Decatur Recreation Department. For many years, he served as Curator of Education for the Museum of Design Atlanta. He has also worked with the Michael C. Carlos Museum, the Atlanta Preservation Center, The Columbus Museum of Art, The Birmingham Museum of Art, Imagine It! the Children's Museum of Atlanta, the Atlanta History Center Museum, and the Minnesota Science Museum.

Randy holds a BFA in Graphic Design and a M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education and is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. He is a Registered Drama Therapist and has extensive experience in special education and grades Pre-school through College.

Randy is adept at crafting authentic historical situations in which students role-play with him to create a deeper understanding of the choices people make that shape our culture and important moments in history. He strives to make learning activities which are enjoyable, meaningful and authentic. He might interact with classes in role as Vincent van Gogh, as a Georgia Legislator, or as the owner of a pastry shop. The students might be in role as sanitarium staff doing an intake interview, Cherokee Indians who have just discovered gold on their property, or community members who are having problems with stolen property. By interacting with each other, students discover how individuals might have behaved in history; how ideas are exchanged between various peoples; and how a community works together. In Randy's process, students also learn about improvisational theatre and acting. Randy Taylor's programs are developed in collaboration with the school, based upon solid research and core curriculum materials.

Pam Beagle-Daresta

Ms. Beagle-Daresta has thirty years teaching experience, and is on the approved teaching artist rosters of the Georgia Council for the Arts, South Carolina Arts Commission, Fulton County Arts Council, Young Audiences, and High Museum of Art education program. Pam is certified in DBAE, Talents Unlimited, and she is also trained in art therapy and Bernstein Artful Learning. She has worked with all populations in varied settings. Pam created and taught a core curriculum connected art curriculum for K - 8th grades at St. Joseph's School for many years, so she is very aware of how schools work.

Pam's programs as a teaching artist include printmaking, papermaking, book arts, and murals. She was recently commissioned to work with students to create a Georgia history mural for Senator Isakson's Washington, D.C., office.

Pam's workshops and residencies are developed in conversation with teachers and staff, and honor core curriculum through the art form, affirming and deepening the student's knowledge-based learning. Pam's printmaking programs include techniques and materials appropriate to the grade levels, and may focus on a process or an overview of intaglio, relief, silkscreen, and mono-printing techniques. Pam's papermaking workshops include historical background, scientific principles, environmental issues, and how paper is made.

Visit Pam Beagle-Daresta's website.

Sherry Norfolk

Co-author of The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum (Libraries Unlimited 2006) and The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development, 2nd Ed. (August House 2006), Sherry holds a B.S. in Elementary Education and a Masters in Library Science. She is a professional teaching artist who performs and teaches storytelling nationally and internationally. Sherry is a roster artist with Alaska State Council on the Arts, Fulton County Arts Council, Georgia Council for the Arts (touring and teaching artist), Louisiana Council for the Arts, Interchange / COCA St. Louis, South Carolina Arts Commission, SouthernArtistry.org, Tennessee Arts Commission (teaching artist and professional development), Virginia Commission on the Arts, Young Audiences-Woodruff Arts Center, and Springboard for Learning / Young Audiences of St. Louis. Her staff development workshops for Pre-K are certified by the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

From the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN, to the Hong Kong International School, Sherry Norfolk’s storytelling performances delight audiences at festivals, schools, libraries and concert halls. Her repertoire is drawn from the oral tradition, and includes world folktales told in a rhythmic, melodic style enlivened by a multiplicity of voices and sounds.

Sherry engages audiences of all ages with performances that are vivid and enticing, compelling listeners to look through the kaleidoscope of story into the landscape of the imagination. A true teaching artist who can not only “walk the walk but talk the talk,” Sherry also leads nationally-acclaimed workshops for adults and students as well as creative writing residencies for preschool through high school and special programs for libraries and national parks interpretive staff.

Visit Sherry Norfolk's website.