August 23, 2023 Submitted by South Shore Conservatory
South Shore Conservatory (SSC) announced that Teaching Artist Paige Taylor has been named Program Manager of ImagineARTS, SSC’s exceptional arts-based literacy program in public schools.
SSC’s ImagineARTS residency program partners with Brockton public schools to bring weekly art-integrated literacy instruction to nearly 800 students in 36 PreK classrooms for 25 weeks each year. Using music and the arts as a teaching tool, ImagineARTS strengthens pre-literacy skills among kindergarten students, targeting specific literacy skills such as sequencing, rhyming, and re-telling. This program provides professional development for classroom teachers, and a bridge to reading and the arts for families.
An active member of SSC’s Voice Department since 2017, Taylor is excited to also be part of the ImagineARTS team of arts specialists, as well as to be collaborating with classroom teachers in a public school setting again.
“I began my career teaching in the public schools,” said Taylor. “My undergraduate degree is in music education, and I taught K-8 vocal and general music, and then transitioned to high school chorus. I was in the classroom for the past ten years and have a good working knowledge of how to develop lesson plans and align them to curriculum. I also feel that working with various groups of students, teachers, and administrators throughout my career has helped me to develop a collaborative spirit.”
Taylor says her main focus for the program is to build upon the existing music and movement activities that have engaged students over the past eleven years. She is making sure ImagineARTS lessons align with DESE Pre-K literacy standards as well as the Brockton PreK curriculum. She hopes to develop an evaluation tool to show the effectiveness of the program.
John Kelly, principal of the Angelo Elementary School said this about ImagineARTS in his school, “The smiles the ImagineARTS program brings to our students’ faces are contagious. Our students eagerly await their weekly visit from the ImagineARTS specialist who brings stories to life through music and movement. I myself love to join the rooms during these lessons to take in the joy being exhibited by our students while participating.”
South Shore Conservatory admits students and families of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, religion, marital status, political belief, sexual orientation, gender identification, and disability to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. To learn more about South Shore Conservatory’s ImagineARTS program, visit sscmusic.org/imaginearts or find South Shore Conservatory on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.