Creeping, crawling on the ground,
Creeping, crawling all around,
On my caterpillar feet
Looking for something to eat!

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” a children’s book by Eric Carle, came to life as preschoolers sang and danced to the beat of Kofi Dennis’ drum. The children in Tiffany Norkett’s Tryon Hills Pre-K Center classroom absorbed the guest artist’s lesson about a complicated topic – the butterfly’s life cycle – through a simple story infused with performing arts.It’s just one example of how a trained artist can engage students by integrating music, movement and drama into curricula.

ArtsTeach brings Wolf Trap to Charlotte

On May 23, ArtsTeach Executive Director Deborah Cooper announced the organization was selected to direct North Carolina Wolf Trap, an early education program designed to help at-risk preschoolers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Bright Beginnings program. The visit by Dennis, a Wolf Trap master artist, was part of a weeklong launch, May 22-26, of “North Carolina Wolf Trap, a program of ArtsTeach.”

“What I think is so exciting is (that) as a community, you’re making a commitment to your children’s earliest learning experiences,” said Miriam Flaherty, Wolf Trap senior director of education. “Why start in elementary school? Children don’t start learning in elementary school. … People are getting it.”

Flaherty said it is critical to give children different ways of learning and practicing what they learn. “A child, for example, who might not be very proficient in English might be reached through movement, and then use music as a way of helping him acquire language skills. So it’s a nice multipronged approach,” she explained.
Headquartered near Washington, D.C., The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts is one of several programs offered by Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. The nonprofit’s goal is to provide collaborations between performing artists and early childhood professionals to weave arts education into school curricula.

Replicated throughout the nation, Wolf Trap’s Charlotte debut marks the 16th regional affiliate. Nancy Beasley will helm North Carolina Wolf Trap as regional director, effective June 12. She currently serves as Selwyn
Elementary School’s Principal.

Wolf Trap in the classroom

During the launch week, a few Tryon Hills teachers got a taste of what is to come this fall when the pilot officially takes root schoolwide.

As one of those teachers, Norkett saw immediate results in her students. She said her preschoolers continued to repeat lesson points long after Dennis departed the classroom. “I think that’s a positive, that they’re continuing on their own and not being teacher-led,” she said. After only a few days working with the Wolf Trap master artist, Norkett says the ideas “are endless” for strengthening the learning environment in her Bright
Beginnings classroom.

A troupe of nine North Carolina artists will be trained by a Wolf Trap master artist before entering classrooms. Resident artists will learn how to align their work with the Wolf Trap curriculum, as well as how to work effectively with teachers. Tryon Hills teachers and resident artists will undergo professional development; parents, too, will receive training during back-to-school night in August.

Cooper said two rounds of seven-week residencies are scheduled for fall and spring, with the first slated to begin in November.

This wolf expecting cubs

Although Wolf Trap is just getting under way in Charlotte – targeting 3,400 at-risk preschoolers – ideas about growth already are brewing. ArtsTeach officials plan to expand the program to additional sites and to partner with other state and regional early childhood programs, such as More at Four and Smart Start.

Cooper said a strategic team will be assembled to plan North Carolina Wolf Trap’s next five years. “It will probably land in areas that can assist us, like Asheville, perhaps, that already have a strong arts council,” she remarked. Organizations supporting and funding Wolf Trap North Carolina include CMS, the Arts & Science Council, the North Carolina Arts Council, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Visit www.artsteach.org/ncwolftrap.asp for more information.