Ingenuity State of the Arts Report 2016-17 Ingenuity_SOTA_2016-17 | Page 57

PROGRESS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
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Chris Inserra and Hayt Elementary School
PROGRESS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
Students at Stephen K. Hayt Elementary School
have traveled the world through music and
storytelling with independent teaching artist
Chris Inserra. For the past four years, Inserra
collaborated closely with Hayt’s visual arts
instructor, music teacher, and kindergarten
through third grade classroom teachers with the
goals of building students’ cultural humility and
engaging parents and community members.
Located on the North Side of Chicago in the
Edgewater neighborhood, Hayt is a diverse school
with more than 35 different cultures represented.
Through Inserra’s Global Music program, Hayt
students celebrated their diverse school
community by exploring the music and languages
of their peers. Over nine weeks, students in
kindergarten through third grade learned to sing
in a variety of languages, used percussion to
explore cultural rhythms, and created original
songs. Fourth and fifth grade students have
continued their connection to the program
through monthly Cultural Family Circle gatherings
and the culminating Cultural Family Festival.
The Global Music program fostered a
welcoming environment at Hayt and developed
students’ cultural awareness through shared
music and language.
“In a third grade class with an extremely eclectic
group of students...one girl had just arrived
from Syria, so we found Syria on our map and
connected it to Pakistan, our first country of
study,” Inserra said. “Her eyes grew large with
astonishment as the other students in her class
sang a hello song in Arabic that we had learned
the year before.”
Because of her continual partnership,
Inserra is able to create lasting bonds
with students, and she is regularly greeted
with the question, “Where will we travel
to this year?”
Inserra noted that the strength of her partnership
with Hayt Elementary stems from her close
collaboration with the school’s teachers,
particularly Sarah Young, the full-time visual
arts instructor. Through regular reflection and
brainstorming, Inserra and Young have created
a curriculum that addresses the needs of the
diverse student body.
“Sarah Young and I are a ‘dream team,’” Inserra
said. “We integrated music lessons with visual
arts classes, thus intertwining the two mediums
to enrich students’ global experience.”
PROGRESS REPORT | 2016–17