Students from several St. Louis and University City schools have been guests on the university’s Danforth Campus the past few weeks as part of university programs to enrich educational experiences for area schoolchildren.
Activities included musical, theatrical and dance performances, interactive lectures, tours, visits to exhibitions on campus and musical instrument building. WUSTL faculty, staff and undergraduate and graduate students helped lead the events.
These programs are a part of a larger university initiative to introduce area schoolchildren to Washington University and share the university’s educational resources in hopes of engaging students in the experience of learning, said Cheryl Adelstein, director of community relations.
“These types of programs are important to WUSTL because of our mission to ‘provide the infrastructure to support teaching, research, scholarship and service for the present and for future generations,’ ” said Victoria May, the university’s director of education outreach. “In many cases, students who aren’t interested in academics find it fascinating as it relates to art or music and then get motivated to learn.”
On Jan. 22, more than 400 elementary and middle school students from St. Louis, University City and Clayton schools visited Edison Theatre for a performance by ScrapArtsMusic musicians. During the show, students were invited up on stage to play along with the performers on the performers’ instruments, which are created from used materials.
Students then were invited to build their own recycled instruments and attend demonstrations showing how instruments create music. WUSTL students from anthropology, biology, earth and planetary sciences, education, German, history, musicology, physics and psychology in Arts & Sciences, along with students from the School of Engineering & Applied Science and Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, shared in the activities with the elementary and middle-school students.
Participating schools were Brittany Woods Middle School, Dewey International Studies Elementary, Hamilton eMints Academy Community, Jefferson Elementary, Nottingham Community Access and Job Training High School, and St. Michael School.
Joe Angeles
Daniel Shea, Ph.D. (center), gives direction to Megan Ratcliff (left) and Jordan Ward, both freshmen at Metro High School in St. Louis.
On Feb. 12, St. Louis students from Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, and Metro Academic and Classical attended a performance of William Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It” by the Aquila Theatre Company at Edison Theatre.
After the performance, the students stayed for an interactive lecture by Daniel Shea, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English in Arts & Sciences, and Anita Hagerman, Ph.D., instructor in University College in Arts & Sciences, to discuss setting and other elements of Shakespeare’s plays. Students also were invited onstage to participate in short performances.
“WUSTL faculty have shown a remarkable interest in reaching out to local schools,” May said. “Community relations, science outreach and community service work together help connect cultural events to WUSTL’s academic resources.”
On Feb. 19, approximately 300 students from Brittany Woods Middle School, Delmar-Harvard Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary and McKinley Classical Leadership Academy visited Edison Theatre for the ballet “Rosa” by PHILADANCO dance company to celebrate Black History Month.
After the ballet, all four schools remained on campus for lunch, and Delmar-Harvard and Brittany Woods students visited the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.