The Lied Center of Kansas, in cooperation with the Lawrence School District, is presenting a full-day workshop for teachers, concentrating on bringing the arts to the classroom before the school year even begins.

In addition to the main performance series, the Lied Center is also committed to offering several education and engagement opportunities to communities in Kansas, including a number of school-only performances. Throughout the year, the Lied Center hosts teacher seminars in conjunction with these shows for students. This season, however, the Lied Center will provide an opportunity for USD497 teachers to attend workshops in the summer, before the season begins.

The day will consist of morning and afternoon sessions. Each workshop will feature techniques to integrate the arts into the K-12 curriculum. Teaching artists and USD497 curriculum specialists will share ideas and expertise, and provide resources for developing arts and other education related opportunities with the Lied Center, Lawrence Arts Center and KU Theatre for Young People.

The seminars will take place in downtown Lawrence and will include short morning sessions taught by local artists including Ric Averill, storyteller; Priscilla Howe, KU Department of Theatre; Candi Baker, Lawrence Arts Center; and Kimberli Boyd, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Morning sessions will also feature members from the Kansas Streamlink. Afternoon sessions will consist of three individual workshops connecting content to this season’s Lied Center school performances. The 2008-09 student-only shows include the Mermaid Theatre’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Roseneath Theatre’s Spirit Horse and JazzReach’s SHE SAID/SHE SAYS .

The teacher’s summer workshop is supported by the Lawrence Community Foundation and is free for participants.