Workshops/Conferences presented with Partnership with Children
Reimagining School Wellness Through Arts & SEL A four-year model for Healing, Engagement, and Belonging.
Presented by Wesner Pierre, CEO
Tal Bar-Zemer, Program Director, Arts Ed
Camille Simone Thomas, Teaching Artist
Presented at SXSW EDU 2026 this interactive session explores how arts-based learning can drive student engagement and school wide wellness through trauma-informed and social emotional learning (SEL)-aligned strategies. Drawing from a four-year program with the same cohort of students from 3rd to 5th grade in Brooklyn, participants will experience hands-on activities and examine how using a trauma-informed lens to integrate student voice, cultural relevance, and the arts can transform learning environments into spaces of healing, agency, and connection.
Advancing Student Engagement:
Theatre, SEL, and Trauma-informed Practices in Education
Presented by Tal Bar Zemer: Program Director
Camille Simone Thomas: Teaching Artist
Presented at the CASEL conference 2026 this ssession explored how theater-based, trauma-informed, and SEL-aligned strategies enhance student engagement and learning in this interactive session. Engage in hands-on activities, analyze case studies from the Student Voice and Engagement project, and discuss practical applications for their own contexts. You’ll leave with evidence-based tools to integrate SEL and trauma-informed practices into arts education, fostering student resilience, collaboration, and creativity.
Transforming Together: Theater, SEL, and the Power of Student Voice
Presented by Sam Leopold: Program Manager,
Camille Simone Thomas: Teaching Artist
Amplify and Ignite American Alliance for Theatre Education Symposium 2025 at Emerson College
This interactive session explores the "Stages of Change" model applied to theater education and social-emotional learning (SEL). By reflecting on both innovative practices, such as the Student Voice and Engagement (SVE) program, and the core values of theater education, participants will engage in hands-on activities, collaborative discussions, and reflective exercises to explore how to sustain student engagement while maintaining traditional values.
Transforming Together: Theater, SEL, and the Power of Student Voice
Presented by Sam Leopold: Program Manager,
Camille Simone Thomas: Teaching Artist
American Alliance for Theatre Education National Conference 2025 in Cleveland
This interactive session explores the "Stages of Change" model applied to theater education and social-emotional learning (SEL). By reflecting on both innovative practices, such as the Student Voice and Engagement (SVE) program, and the core values of theater education, participants will engage in hands-on activities, collaborative discussions, and reflective exercises to explore how to sustain student engagement while maintaining traditional values.
The Healing Arts: Lessons from a Trauma Informed Healing Arts Theater Program
Presented by Sam Leopold: Program Manager,
Camille Simone Thomas: Teaching Artist
American Alliance for Theatre Education National Conference 2023 in Seattle
In this interactive session we will share our experience collaborating between theater artists, classroom teachers, and social workers in our four year Federally Funded Student Voice and Engagement Program in four schools in Brownsville, Brooklyn. We will explore our program model, discuss how theater taps into students' natural language of play and storytelling and strengthens classroom community, students' coping skills, self-expression, and relationships. Through small group discussion, hands on games and theater exercises, and the presentation of media from our program, we will share, reflect, and actively explore what we have learned about program design and implementation thus far, and talk about how we plan to scaffold our learning into years 3 and 4 of the program. Join us for a conversation of what we have learned about the impact of this collaboration and bring back ideas, tips, and strategies for application at your own setting.