On July 29, 2020, an artistic group of Catalina Rotarians and volunteers held a full-day literacy and art training workshop for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson staff in the new Catalina Rotary Creative Art Center. Fifteen participants from the BGCT attended. Five Trainers (Barbara Kiernan, Sharyn Chesser, Nicole Coury, M Craig, and Cindy Robertson) spent the day sharing literacy strategies and modeling their use in ongoing art projects. In addition to PowerPoint presentations and resource-filled handouts prepared by Barbara Kiernan, many activities involved the creation of personal and collaborative artworks that combined language and literacy; the execution of many of these artworks was facilitated artist Cindy Robertson. In light of the stress that many of the teachers and children are often under, especially now during the pandemic, Sharyn Chesser shared Capacitar strategies throughout the day to help reduce stress. In addition, M Craig provided a very hands-on opportunity for to experience how literacy can be introduced into several Origami art pieces. During the workshop, a full library of books related to workshop topics was unveiled, and each Trainer selected a new book related to her topic to be added to the library. Energy was high, involvement optimal, and snacks and lunch were enjoyed by all.
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