Part 2 of our conversation with maker educator Paula Mitchell about the inclusive and community-based dance program at Grass Valley Elementary, and about how dance aligns with Grass Valley’s maker school identity. Recorded April 29, 2022.

Since recording this episode, Grass Valley’s closure has been halted by the Oakland school board. Read more here.

transcription coming soon

With guest:

Paula Mitchell

Paula is a 20+ year veteran Oakland public school teacher who has been crafting, designing and making since she was a little girl. As a Teacher on Special Assignment (TSA) for Project Based Learning/Maker Education at Grass Valley Elementary she is able to bring more hands-on, minds-on learning to the community she loves through their MakerSpace program, which she developed. Paula is Co-Director of Agency by Design Oakland. and a Luna Summer Institute alum ’12.

Maker educator Paula Mitchell chats with dance teaching artists Alisa Rasera and Heather Stockton about the inclusive and community-based dance program they helped develop at Grass Valley Elementary. More conversations about dance at Grass Valley to come! Recorded January 27, 2022.

Since recording this episode Grass Valley’s closure has been halted by the Oakland school board. Read more here.

transcription coming soon

With guests:

Alisa Rasera

Alisa began her dance career in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1996. Through the decades, she has had many rich experiences as a dance artist, educator, choreographer and professional learning leader. For 8 years she was a member and Education Director of Physically Integrated, AXIS Dance Company. She was a teaching artist and Professional Learning Manager with Luna Dance Institute for 7 years, leading inquiry-based learning on making dance more accessible and inclusive, and is a Luna Summer Institute alum. Currently she is designing professional development curriculum for dance educators around access and inclusion. She produces her own repertory of choreography. Alisa is an Audio Describer with Gravity Access and believes dance belongs to everyone and tries to convey that through her work. 

Paula Mitchell

Paula is a 20+ year veteran Oakland public school teacher who has been crafting, designing and making since she was a little girl. As a Teacher on Special Assignment (TSA) for Project Based Learning/Maker Education at Grass Valley Elementary she is able to bring more hands-on, minds-on learning to the community she loves through their MakerSpace program, which she developed. Paula is Co-Director of Agency by Design Oakland. and a Luna Summer Institute alum ’12.

Dance teaching artist Aiano Nakagawa and early childhood teacher Jessica Kershner reflect on their partnership, what they learned from each other and the children, as they built an inclusive dance program in Jessie’s ECE classroom. Recorded April 6, 2021.

With guests:

Aiano Nakagawa

Aiano (they/she) is an educator, dance artist, and writer dedicated to moving towards a liberated future through the cultivation of practical, embodied, and critical understandings of Power, pleasure, creativity, and the body. Aiano values teaching as a service towards actualizing a world in which all people can be seen, honored, and live freely. Aiano’s teaching philosophy stems from the intersection of critical, feminist, queer, and integral pedagogy. Their goal is to create transformative learning spaces that allow opportunities for critical thinking, self-determination, and self-actualization.

Jessica Kershner

Jessica Kershner is a special education preschool teacher at Oakland Unified School District, where she has been teaching for 10 years. She is passionate about creating inclusive spaces for children and families. Jessica is a Summer Institue alum and has been collaborating with Luna over the last 3 years to increase her own knowledge of dance education and bring dance experiences to her students.

A conversation exploring how we’re considering access and inclusion, and  listening and responding to our students’ needs during COVID. Recorded December 4, 2020.

With guests:

Alisa Rasera

Alisa began her dance career in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1996. Through the decades, she has had many rich experiences as a dance artist, educator, choreographer and professional learning leader. For 8 years she was a member and Education Director of Physically Integrated, AXIS Dance Company. She was a teaching artist and Professional Learning Manager with Luna Dance Institute for 7 years, leading inquiry-based learning on making dance more accessible and inclusive, and is a Luna Summer Institute alum. Currently she is designing professional development curriculum for dance educators around access and inclusion. She produces her own repertory of choreography. Alisa is an Audio Describer with Gravity Access and believes dance belongs to everyone and tries to convey that through her work. 

Cynthia Miner Kapelke, M.Ed,. ET/P, M.A.

Educational therapist, consultant, and sole proprietor of Learning Frameworks, Cindy works to support growing learners and partner with the families, caregivers, teachers, practitioners, doctors, and schools that surround them. Since 2001, she has collaborated with Bay Area families and schools to promote strengths-based learning techniques for K-8 learners to overcome individual challenges and expand learning successes.

Her training and practice also are influenced by interests in dance, movement, embodied cognition, and mindfulness as part of multi-sensory learning. Learning Frameworks seeks to guide students to an effective learning process by making “the invisible visible” with visual and narrative devices that hold up through time and across subject areas. She participated in the 2019 Summer Institute cohort with Luna Dance Institute.