Are you a teaching artist seeking professional development?

Are you an artist in need of curriculum development assistance to strengthen your teaching skills?

Are you a teacher, teaching artist or artist looking for ways to effectively assess the progress of your students?

Do you need help in developing a lesson plan integrating the arts into your educational program?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, we encourage you to attend this Curriculum Writing & Assessment Training.  For teaching artists and international Artists on Call of BuildaBridge, this is a required training.  For those of you not affiliated with BuildaBridge but may be involved in an arts education program, after school programming, school and/or in the non-profit realm of arts education, we invite you to join us for this professional development opportunity for only $10.

Details:

When: August 27th from 8:30am to 12noon

Where: BuildaBridge House, 205 W. Tulpehocken St., Philadelphia, PA 19144

Cost: $10 for non-BuildaBridge personnel

Trainer: Dr. Vivian Nix-Early, COO & Co-Founder of BuildaBridge

Course details:

In this course, students and professionals alike will learn how to develop strong arts-integrated curricula and lesson plans by studying samples and one another’s work. They will also learn how to develop and perform relevant assessments of children’s behavioral and artistic progress, and the trajectory of the class as a whole. This training gives students the real nuts and bolts of preparing and delivering a lesson under the difficult circumstances in which BuildaBridge works. Additionally, there will be discussion of learning style theory and how to build targeted activities for each learning style into a given lesson.

For a full list of all BuildaBridge trainings, see our Trainings page.

If you are interested in this training, please register here and remit payment at time of training.  Any questions please contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Your Volunteer Experience Matters.  If you have ever been unsure about the value of your time and efforts volunteering for a cause or organization, read the following blog article to see how volunteering really does matter in the long run.

LinkedIn turns attention to Volunteerism

Join BuildaBridge in welcoming back Mark Lyons of the Philadelphia Storytelling Project for a Storytelling Workshop.

Mark Lyons demonstrated the power of storytelling during BuildaBridge's Volunteer Appreciation Event in March of this year.  Teaching artists, volunteers and staff participated in a brief exercise of telling their 'Brave' stories.  The group chose this theme upon which to tell their stories; after which pairs of participants shared their narrative by speaking into a recorder.  The stories were played back in front of the group for reflection, analysis and discussion.

Mark Lyons will conduct a more in-depth storytelling workshop for the general public, artists, BuildaBridge personnel, educators and social service personnel.  The 3-hour workshop will cover the fundamentals of storytelling, how to integrate it into the arts or other programs, and examples of computer based tools to mix audio with other art forms.

More specifically, participants will learn:

• The transformative possibilities of using storytelling when working with youth and adults.
• To integrate the BuildaBridge model into their storytelling work, emphasizing hope, dreaming of a better future, affirmation and honoring of each of our life stories and reflection.
• To integrate storytelling into the various art forms used for healing purposes
• To utilize computer-based tools to mix audio stories and other art forms, visual arts, photography, dance and music.
• To develop a lesson plan for integrating audio storytelling into their current art discipline.

Details:

• When:  Saturday, January 28th from 9am to 12noon
• Where:  BuildaBridge House, 205 W. Tulpehocken St., Philadelhpia, PA 19144
• Cost:  $10
• Trainer:  Mark Lyons of the Philadelphia Storytelling Project
• To register, complete the online form here.  Training is subject to cancellation or changes pending sufficient attendance.

Thank you to the 1 million Philadelphia volunteers who gave of their time, energy and efforts in 2010!

In their most recent newsletter, United Way highlighted statistics from the Corporation for National and Community Service noting that one-quarter of all Americans volunteered for charity last year.  In Philadelphia alone, the statistics were just as encouraging.  Volunteering in America, a part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, gathers information on volunteer and civic engagement, organizing it by state, region and city.

In 2009, 109 BuildaBridge volunteers gave 6,919 hours of service and in 2010, the number of volunteers remained relatively the same though the number of service hours increased to 8,170.  To date in 2011, domestic and international BuildaBridge volunteers have given 5,556 hours of their time.

Thank you to all of our BuildaBridge volunteers and thank you to the 1 million volunteers in Philadelphia.  We appreciate you.

As a part of BuildaBridge’s Strategic Plan for the next three years, the organization seeks long-term, professional and mission-oriented volunteers to assist with both on-going and one-time activities. BuildaBridge is developing pools of volunteers for specific tasks, activities and events.  All positions are 10-20 hours per week, available as volunteer opportunities or unpaid internships.

Administrative Office Assistant— Customer Service, organization, and details are the key with this position in a relaxed yet professional environment. 
Responsibilities include:

• Answering and directing phone calls, taking messages
• Collecting and sorting mail once a day
• Preparing mailings to send which includes printing labels, labeling and placing stamps on mail
• Organizing and maintaining office supplies in addition to submitting orders to Programs Administrator for office supplies

Data Entry— A data entry volunteer will assist BuildaBridge in entering confidential donor information, volunteer contacts and grant/foundation information into our BuildaBridge People database.  Daily tasks include the organization, management and inputting of information into the database. 

Special Events Coordinator & Volunteers — Creative, detailed, mission oriented and organized people or advocates are wanted to help organize and conduct BuildaBridge’s special events. This may range from small brunches to larger appreciation events to planning a large fundraising event for the year.  Assistance at university, trade or non-profit fairs which includes volunteer recruitment also an option. Development and event help experience is preferred. 
Upcoming Events:

• Artology Reunion, Saturday February 18th from 5-8pm
• University of the Arts Opportunity Fest, Wednesday, March 14th from 11am to 2pm
• 2012 Non-profit and Government Career Fair, Tuesday, March 20th from 12-3:30pm
• Volunteer Appreciation Event, Sunday March 25th from 4-6pm
• Day of Healing in collaboration with Art-Reach, Friday, April 27th from 9am to 4pm
• Institute for Arts and Transformation, Wednesday June 6th-Monday June 11th with preparation, supplies and organization assistance required the week before and week of.

Training Hospitality Hosts – Creative, organized, pro-active personnel needed to be hosts for all in-house BuildaBridge trainings.  A one-hour training is required to acclimate hosts to procedures, set-ups and expectations; training date and time TBD.
Responsibilities include:

• Arrival 30 minutes prior and staying 15 minutes afterwards to clean up
• Set up training classroom space with chairs, art supplies, BuildaBridge training posters, technology equipment
• Designate food station, layout snacks, utilizing plates, bowls as necessary including cups and drinks
• Utilize table or desk in lobby to have sign-in attendance sheet and welcome participants as they arrive.
• Remind trainers to leave 5 minutes at the end for evaluation; hand out evaluations and collect at the end
• Take notes for the trainer as they train, assisting where necessary, keeping time on activities and agenda
• Clean up all food/drink, washing/drying dishes, putting them back in place; take out all trash and return chairs to the closet.  Ensure that all materials used during the training are returned to either the supplies closet or appropriate person.

See Spring Training Schedule for upcoming dates

Marketing Volunteers – Organized, pro-active and professional personnel needed to market BuildaBridge’s mission of hope and healing, services provided and trainings offered.  Experience in marketing and public relations required in conjunction with excellent verbal and written communication skills; people and business skills a plus. 
Responsibilities include:

• Formulate and execute marketing plan in accordance with Strategic Plan
• Assist in the development of attractive marketing and public relations materials
• Contribute to and manage website content
• Assistance with development of monthly newsletters
• Communicate news, updates and marketing material to targeted groups within BuildaBridge’s network

For more information, questions, details or to get involved, contact us via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 215-842-0428

Long-time BuildaBridge Artist-on-Call, Institute alumnus and faculty member Kathryn Pannepacker (pictured above on right) received a prestigious grant award from the Leeway Foundation.  She will exhibit work in conjunction with FiberPhiladelphia 2012 in an upcoming solo exhibition at the William Way Center from March 9-April 27, and a group exhibition at Kellijane from March 2-April 2.  On April 1, Kathryn will present a talk entitled, "Sex, Drugs & Social Stigma: Reflections of Making Art and Social Change" at the Surface Design Association Conference.

See full article here.