Denise Davis-Cotton
A groundbreaking professional development initiative funded by a $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and launched by Denise Davis-Cotton, director for the Florida Center for Partnerships in Arts Integrated Teaching (PAInT), is already enhancing social studies education for elementary and middle school teachers in low-socioeconomic communities.
By engaging 24 teachers from Illinois, California, and Washington D.C. — along with 12 teaching artists and 24 community members from 11 nonprofit public charter schools, each of which is connected to a larger community hub for civic engagement — the “Bill of Writes Storytellers,” or BOWS, initiative is promoting arts-integrated teaching methods and fostering student involvement through project-based learning.
The professional development initiative is helping teachers at Distinctive Schools, Inc., The School of Arts and Enterprise and Caesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy gain proficiency in various artistic disciplines — including the performing, visual and literary arts — which will empower them to help students understand American history, government, civics and geography through artistic expression.
It’s about creating a community of stakeholders. BOWS explores essential historical concepts within American history and civic discourse, offering teachers and students opportunities to delve into original documents like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as lesser-known historical narratives.
Denise Davis-Cotton
“BOWS acknowledges the potential of the arts to drive social change, promote social
justice and contribute to a well-informed democratic society by engaging teachers
and teaching artists in professional development,” Davis-Cotton said.
The cohort is engaged in hands-on classroom residency experiences that prepare them
to develop in-depth arts integrated curricula and integrate civics into arts classrooms
and communities. The group attended their first annual five-day Intensive Learning
Lab this summer, where they received mentorship and training from the Smithsonian,
Florida Council of History Teachers and Creative Generation.
Students at charter schools in Chicago, Il. (left) and Pomona, Calif. (right) learn about American history, government, civics and geography through artistic expression.
The initiative — which is supported by a team of experts from the University of South Florida, including Marie Byrd, Scott Perry and Sandra Stone, as well as collaborators Kenneth Wong of Brown University and Gloria Brown Marshall of the City University of New York — builds on Davis-Cotton's previous success advancing arts integration and student engagement, including an $8.5 million grant in 2021.
“Just as an archer assembles a skilled set of arrows, the Florida Center for PAInT is gathering a team of talented individuals poised to make a meaningful impact,” said Davis-Cotton, who aims to work with the Smithsonian Learning Lab to create a digital platform of lessons and resource that are accessible to educators across the country.