“Evie should do trainings for the entire district.”
“I wish they could come to my school!”
“It was everything I needed!”
That’s what Minneapolis Public Schools teachers had to say after participating in professional development workshops led by COMPAS Teaching Artists, including Evie Digirolamo, Karlyn Coleman, Frank Sentwali, and Alsa and Morgan Bruno.
Those sessions were just a few of the professional development offerings COMPAS Teaching Artists brought to teachers at Minneapolis Public Schools this summer.
Designed to be active, practical, and inspiring, COMPAS professional development workshops help people across industries and professions build skills, explore new approaches, and bring fresh ideas to their work. These hands-on experiences get participants creating, experimenting, collaborating, and learning strategies they can put into practice.
What that looked like for Minneapolis Public Schools teachers…
Accessibility in the Arts Classroom
Evie Digirolamo shared practical tools and strategies to help teachers make arts learning more accessible to students. For some, the session addressed a significant gap in their training. One teacher shared that accessibility had never been covered in their teacher education program.
Another left no doubt about the value of the session: “Real-world tips, adaptive tools, role-playing, demos, EVERYTHING Evie handed us was of value. Not a single wasted second.”
Joy Building in the Classroom
Alsa & Morgan Bruno invited educators to explore ways to build joy, belonging, and connection into the classroom. Teachers tried activities together, chose what best suited their group’s needs, and shared ideas for bringing these strategies back to their students.
One participant described the workshop as “such an incredible and affirming experience,” while others appreciated the flexibility, opportunities to collaborate, and strategies they could put to use right away.
Spoken Word: an opportunity to incorporate literacy in the arts specialist curriculum
Frank Sentwali explored how Spoken Word and creative writing can help students engage more deeply with learning across subjects, including science.
In an “amazing follow-up conversation” after the session, one participant learned about Frank’s collaboration with a science teacher at Sanford Middle School, where students used poetry and Spoken Word to connect with and embody science standards and content. The educator hoped to collaborate with Frank in the future to create more opportunities for interdisciplinary learning.
Soundtracks and Stories
Karlyn Coleman explored how instrumental music can spark imagination, inspire storytelling, and support students who are reluctant writers and neurodivergent learners, including those with ADHD. As music teachers considered how different listeners imagine different stories from the same piece of music, they discovered opportunities to build empathy, encourage conversation, and strengthen classroom community.
Participants especially appreciated the personalized conversations and connections across disciplines.
And it’s not just for teachers…
Recently, at RBC, a global financial institution, a group of employees stepped away from their usual work to explore something new: painting with palette knives.
COMPAS Teaching Artist Karen Caldwell led the company’s Employee Art Club through an acrylic painting workshop. The group examined how an existing painting used texture, then learned palette-knife techniques to add depth and texture to their own work.
Karen loved seeing participants discover what they could do.
“They were surprised they could do it, and it opened their eyes to different ways of creating.”
Afterward, one employee shared how impressed they were with Karen and that RBC had offered such a creative experience, one that gave them a chance to step away from work and explore “a totally different side” of themselves.
Want this for your team?
These are just a few glimpses of what professional development with COMPAS can look like. Our Teaching Artists bring expertise across a wide range of art forms and approaches, opening up many possibilities for how a workshop can take shape. Experiences can also be tailored to your team, your goals, and the kind of learning that would be most useful in your environment.
Whether you lead a school or a workplace, we’d love to explore how arts-based professional development with COMPAS Teaching Artists can strengthen your team’s skills and create space for fresh ideas, collaboration, and shared discovery.
Reach out to the COMPAS Program Team to start the conversation: info@compas.org.
