A Tale of Two Teddies
When Huntington teachers inform their students “We have an assembly program today,” the kids get very excited. It’s been that way for generations and will probably remain the same for years to come. The youngsters like a change of pace as much as anyone, so when the district’s Arts-in-Education program schedules a special event, smiles spread across faces.
“The Huntington School District’s Arts-in-Education committee is a district-wide committee composed of PTA parent representatives from each of the eight schools in our district, Joan Fretz (director of fine and performing arts) and Marcy Rhodes (arts coordinator),” said Miriam Engle, an AIE rep and former Washington School PTA president. “Our mission is to enrich and enhance our children’s education and school’s curriculum through the arts.”
During a recent AIE sponsored event, students at Washington Primary School kept their eyes glued on author-illustrator Kathleen Bart during a presentation of her book, A Tale of Two Teddies. The youngsters, who are in kindergarten and first grade, heard about the true story how “over one hundred years ago, two teddy bears were created at the same time, one in Brooklyn and one in Germany,” according to promotional material about Ms. Bart’s school programs. “Both claim to be the first!”
The author-illustrator “presents each bear’s side of the argument with a lively narrative and poster-sized illustrations,” states an overview provided by Ms. Bart. “Then the listeners vote for the teddy bear they believe was the very first! The program concludes with a teddy bear drawing demonstration and activity.” The youngsters loved every second of the 45-minute presentation.
“The children really enjoyed the presentation,” Washington librarian Georganne White said. “It was very educational and encompassed so many different curriculum areas.”
Ms. Bart spent two days in the district, visiting all four primary schools and reaching every kindergartener and first grader in Huntington. The AIE program sponsored all four stops and has several other events scheduled before school concludes in June.
“We research, preview and select age and grade appropriate programs that create meaningful learning experiences for all the students in the district,” Mrs. Engle said about the AIE committee. “We work in collaboration with our district directors, librarians and many of our teachers in order to bring wonderful programs into our schools that meet all of our goals.”
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