92Y's Virtual Field Trips For Schoolchildren Begin with Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith and More

Schools are invited to choose events taking place in one discipline or across disciplines in each semester.

By: Oct. 14, 2020
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92Y's Virtual Field Trips For Schoolchildren Begin with Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith and More

Typically, during the school year, rows of school buses line up outside 92Y's Manhattan doors for thousands of children to attend concerts, dance performances, and talks as part of their arts education. With the pandemic, 92Y created a solution available to schools nationwide, not just near NYC, whether remote or in person: Young Leaders Series.

It's a curriculum-based, event subscription series for schools, connecting students in grades 3-12 with leading cultural figures who appear on 92Y's storied (virtual) stage as part of our public programming. The series is produced by 92Y's Center for Arts Learning & Leadership, a division which long has offered comprehensive arts in education and career readiness initiatives for students. The Young Leaders Series event packages and their attendant curriculum materials are organized by age group: Elementary (grades 3-5); Middle School (grades 6-8), and High School (9-12) and are offered across the following disciplines: Entertainment and the Arts; Politics and Public Policy; Science and Medicin; History and Religion. More information here.

October Presenters and Topics:

*Wed, Oct 21, 11 am-12 pm ET - Activist Amanda Litman on the tools today's youth need to make real, societal change, moderated by a youth activist from Teens Take Charge

*Thu, Oct 22, 5-6 pm ET - Writer, professor, social commentator Roxane Gay celebrates poet Audre Lorde, moderated by Tulane professor and poet Karisma Price

*Tue, Oct 27, 11 am-12 pm ET - Tap dance troupe Dorrance Dance on the legacy of tap dance; entire troupe including Michelle Dorrance involved in teaching a series of remote lessons, in addition to this event

*Wed, Oct 28, 3:30-4:30 pm ET - NY Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill on performing chamber music

The complete roster of presenters includes November's Claudia Rankine (11/9) The Knights (11/10), Casey Gerald (11/12), Christian McBride (11/16), and Zadie Smith (11/30). December's lineup includes David Mitchell (12/3) Jess Keating (12/7), Sharon Isbin (Dec date tbd), Shamel Pitts/TRIBE (Dec date tbd).

Schools are invited to choose events taking place in one discipline or across disciplines in each semester. 92Y's flexible, à la carte model invites principals and educators to pick and choose event packages for different classrooms and grades across their schools. There is no event minimum.

Young Leaders offers:

*Direct access to leading figures in a range of humanities areas via live virtual meetings exclusively for participating classrooms


*Access to the event with the featured presenter-via livestream from 92Y's virtual stage or via on-demand video from our archive

*Lessons led by experts in the field, live and/or via pre-recorded video Study guides for classroom teachers, to introduce students to the featured presenter and the work under study (sample here)

Through participation in the Series, students will be able to:

*Engage in civic dialogue and discussion on a range of important topics with leading figures in politics and public policy, science and medicine, history and religion, entertainment and the arts---as well as with their peers from across the country.

*Discover their own artistic and intellectual passions through study of the content and concepts explored by the featured presenters

*Produce original works -- poetry, essays, choreography, music compositions -- inspired by the virtual programs they attend / artists they engage with and which will be published on 92Y's website

*Observe, create, critique and explore the issues embedded in various art forms and forums - to prepare to participate fully in determining the future of their world

For more information on Young Leaders, and to register, go here.



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