Youth Arts

…to read, adapt, and perform classical and contemporary texts relevant to their lives. Students work closely with professional teaching artists to bring poems and stories from the page to the stage using the Word for Word signature performance style, while gaining literacy, team-building, and social-emotional skills.

From ELL students who benefit from hands-on learning experiences to high-level English speakers who crave opportunities to analyze texts in new ways, Youth Arts provides a fun, curriculum-based entry point for students to access language.

Find out more about Youth Arts in this video from BAYCAT.

The Youth Arts curriculum is in line with California Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts & Literacy and is tailored to match the needs of each school and student population. The professional Teaching Artists, many of whom are bilingual, have extensive experience working with students of differing ethnic, language, and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as students with physical and learning differences. The TAs focus on creating camaraderie amongst diverse student groups and cultivating safe spaces for creative collaboration.

Click here for photos and bios of our Youth Arts Teaching Artists.

Currently, Youth Arts has annual residencies at Francisco Middle School, Leonard Flynn Elementary, Life Academy of Health and Bioscience, Mill Valley Middle School, and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Click here, for a full list of past and present Youth Arts partners.

If you are interested in bringing Youth Arts to your school or would like more information about the Youth Arts program contact: Youth Arts Coordinator, Amy Prosser at aprosser@zspace.org.