February 8, 2010 :: In The Classroom, News :: No Comments

In the Classroom: Global Rhythms

In the Classroom is a new monthly feature created to give you an up-close look at Urban Gateways Teaching Artists in action. Each month, we’ll take you inside a different Chicago-area classroom, introduce you to the Urban Gateways Teaching Artist who is working there, and share with you the experiences of the teaching artist and their students.

In Fall 2009, teaching artist and musician John Knecht led a semester-long residency at Immaculate Conception School called Global Rhythms.  John explored world percussion with first through fourth graders, connecting his lessons to music appreciation, reading notation, world cultures, sociology (concepts of community and identity) and literature. 

The video below documents the residency through photos and the voices of students and teachers at Immaculate Conception. 

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February 1, 2010 :: News, Press Releases :: No Comments

Ballroom Dance-off Brings Students and Community Together

On Thursday, February 4, elementary students from Chavez Multicultural Academy – an Urban Gateways Community School – paired up and “Danced-Off” against students from five other schools in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood.

The Dance-Off was the culmination of a four-month, after-school program called “Dancing with Class” – which focuses on building community bonds through the medium of social dance.  Since October, the Chicago social dance studio May I Have This Dance has provided weekly lessons at all six elementary schools.  Then the students came together for a final Dance-Off, in which partnered with both their classmates AND with dancers from the other schools.

“We have a fundamental belief in the power of social dance to build and strengthen communities, to bring people of all socio-economic backgrounds together,  to do something that brings joy and strengthens respect for self and others,” said Margot Toppen from May I Have This Dance.

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