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School Teachers Explore DUMA

To make learning more enriching for their students, some 30 teachers from George Watts Elementary School will visit the Duke University Museum of Art on Oct. 2 to see how they can draw on its resources. This new partnership between the elementary school and the museum seeks to acquaint the teachers with the resources and educational opportunities the museum has to offer. Also part of the effort, all second, third, fourth and fift graders at Watts Elementary will tour the museum three times this year, said Adera Scheinker, museum education outreach coordinator. "Most of the children at Watts Elementary have not had much exposure to any museum," Scheinker said. "Essentially, we're introducing them to a new experience." The initiative begins Oct. 2, at 4 p.m., when the group of teachers will visit the museum and take part in a creative exercise. After a brief tour, the teachers' assignment will be to compose a piece of writing inspired by the artwork, such as a poem or a short story. Then, they will switch papers and create a sketch based on another individual's words. The exercise is intended to be an example of how teachers can build on a trip to the museum by following it up with a classroom exercise. "A lot of writing depends on having a base of experience to dip into," said Carol Harrison, principal of Watts Elementary. "We sometimes ask our students to imagine and write about things they have not experienced. "This partnership will allow them the opportunity to have a common experience and then write about it. It's not just looking at something in a flat book. It's an experience that is very rich and multi-sensory." The collaboration between Watts Elementary and the museum is part of Duke's Neighborhood Partnership Initiative, an effort to enrich the relationship between the university and the 12 neighborhoods and seven public schools adjacent to the campus. Begun in 1996 under the direction of Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane, the initiative has been endorsed by Duke's Board of Trustees. When the Watts Elementary teachers visit the museum, they will be presented with an African sculpture as a gift to take back to the school, Scheinker said. Students from each of the seven schools in the Neighborhood Partnership Initiative are expected to visit the museum sometime this year. All of the schools will receive an African statue or artifact so the students will be able to "take a piece of the museum back to their schools," Scheinker said. The works set aside for the schools include an antelope headdress from Mali, an elaborate Nigerian textile made from mud and a Liberian board game.

Written by Noah Bartolucci.