NEWS RELEASE For more information, contact: Nicole Correia (860) 868-7377 “Creating Community: Appreciating Differences” WASHINGTON, CT (October 25, 2004) – Glenholme’s lower school students learned to tackle diversity with the power of music when Artist in Residence, Cyd Slotoroff, visited classrooms and brought a unique twist to everyday interactions amongst students. Taking the viewpoint of a younger child, Slotoroff played a series of songs accompanied with her guitar about the effects of students’ behavior on themselves and each other. Through Slotoroff’s program, “Creating Community: Appreciating Differences,” each song or series of role-playing encouraged students to stand up for others while creating a safe and respectful community within the school.

Through active role-playing and interpretation, teams were able to successfully acknowledge the many issues presented by diversity within their own school. The classes provided students with meaningful resolutions to everyday conflicts, while bringing song and entertainment into the classroom.

Glenholme is a boarding school for children with special needs. Glenholme’s consistent and controlled learning environment promotes the academic, social and individual development of each child. The Arts program blends a fusion of therapeutic modality and hands-on activities to each educational piece by bringing in a variety of artists in order to uniquely further the children’s progress within the program.

The Artist in Residence Program is 100% grant supported since 1998 with the continued support of donors. The Arts Coordinator at the Glenholme School schedules artists in residence from two main sources: The Connecticut Commission of the Arts – Directory of Performing Artists and Master Teaching Artists and Young Audiences of Connecticut. Each artist in residence works with Glenholme’s Arts Coordinator and teachers to choose the specific focus and instructional activity best suited to the grade level selected and the school’s curricula.