Regional Centers

Regional Centers

The Perpich Regional Centers program extends the Center’s reach to serve schools and teachers throughout the state in each of the nine Educational Service Cooperative regions. Professional development opportunities are available throughout Greater Minnesota and the metro area. Perpich Regional Centers are an umbrella for three programs: Regional Arts Teacher-Leader Network, Demonstration Schools, and Regional Workshops. Find out how to get involved in each of these programs below!

Regional Arts Teacher-Leader Network

A team of 36 teacher-leaders in the arts from across Minnesota participate in multi-year professional development with a dual focus on classroom practices and educational leadership ranging from policy to interpersonal skills.

Demonstration Schools

 

Teachers in 35 locations annually open their classrooms to host professional development through focused classroom observation. The day ends with a collaborative post-observation debrief facilitated by one of our Arts Education Specialists.

Regional Workshops

 

Bringing professional development to your region, our team of Arts Education Specialists travel the state offering workshops in partnership with the Educational Service Cooperatives.

REGIONAL ARTS TEACHER-LEADER NETWORK

The Regional Arts Teacher-Leader Network (RAT-L) is founded upon the importance of teacher-leadership. This multi-year leadership development program for Minnesota arts educators offers a dual focus: emphasizing both pedagogy and leadership. RAT-Ls work closely with Perpich Center’s team as they grow their teaching practices. In their leadership development, they work with Perpich Center’s team as well as a variety of distinguished guest speakers.

The Regional Arts Teacher-Leader Network consists of 36 educators representing the five arts areas: Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts. The cohort includes teachers from all across the state of Minnesota.

The RAT-L Network serves to grow arts education leadership from within local communities. Through ongoing professional development, RAT-Ls develop the skills and expertise to act as arts advocates, strengthening the field of arts education in their local communities and the state as a whole.

REGIONAL ARTS TEACHER-LEADER APPLICATION

Eligibility

Apply to join Perpich Center’s virtual Regional Arts Teacher-Leader Network, a cohort of arts education teacher-leaders ready to learn and grow together! Over the course of this multi-year professional development program this cohort will collaborate to deepen their understanding of arts education practice & policy while honing personal leadership skills.

**The application period is open from 8:00 a.m., Monday, October 17, 2022 – 8:00 p.m., Monday, December 5, 2022.**

Click HERE to apply to be a RAT-L
RAT-L Overview Document PDF Application Short Answer Questions

 

REGIONAL ARTS TEACHER-LEADER COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP EXAMPLES

Below are examples of how Regional Arts Teacher-Leaders have supported their regions.

  • “Embracing Diversity through Cultural Competencies in Theater Instruction” Workshop
  • “Making Connections” Workshop focusing on growing understanding of Dakota culture and its contributions to the arts
  • Establishing metro area Media Arts recurring meetups
  • “Finding Your Voice, Sharing Your Vision” session at the NW Cooperative
  • Create a database for dance and physical education teachers to create and share information
  • “Creating a Successful Theater Program in a Small School” Workshop
  • “Calling All Superheroes” Collaborative review of the new MN academic standards in the arts
  • Establishing a database of musical compositions by people of color and women

See below for the list of distinguished teachers in our RAT-L network for FY23

  • Gretchen Abegglen – Visual Arts, Osseo Area Public Schools
  • Nicholas Armstrong – Music, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage Public Schools
  • Rachel Betterley – Visual Arts, St. Louis County Schools
  • Delecia Bey – Visual Arts, Minneapolis Public Schools
  • Adam Blumberg – Theater, Anoka-Hennepin Schools
  • Sandy Borkowski – Visual & Media Arts, Bluffview Montessori School
  • Kristin Bray – Visual & Media Arts, Red Wing Public Schools
  • Linda Brown – Visual Arts, Clearbrook-Gonvick Public Schools
  • Betsy Carroll – Visual & Media Arts, Chisholm Public Schools
  • Amy Comp – Music, Hills-Beaver Creek Public Schools
  • Krishana Dempcy – Music, Lakeview Public Schools
  • Stephanie Drymalski – Music, Osseo Area Public Schools
  • Cheryl Durant – Music, Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools
  • Amy Gale – Visual Arts, Osseo Area Public Schools
  • Lehi Gertz – Music, G.F.W. Public Schools
  • Charlie Gorrill – Visual Arts, Academy of Holy Angels
  • Paul Gronert – Music, Mounds View Public Schools
  • Maia Hamann – Music, Holdingford Public Schools
  • Katie Hoaglund – Music, Fairmont Area Public Schools
  • Clayton Hubert – Visual Arts, Red Rock Central School District
  • Lindsay Hunkins – Visual Arts, Hill-Murray School
  • Deborah Karp – Dance, St. Paul Public Schools
  • Heather Knigge – Visual Arts, Worthington School District
  • Emily Labes – Music, Fairmont Public Schools
  • Erik Lane – Theater, Roseville Area Public Schools
  • Julie Loxtercamp – Music, Bemidji Area Public Schools
  • Megan Marcy-Strelow – Dance, Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools
  • Heather Mastel – Theater, Mounds Park Academy
  • Lori Messick – Visual Arts, Fertile-Beltrami Public Schools
  • Stacy Mittag – Theater, St. Croix Preparatory Academy
  • Erin Phillips – Visual Arts, Sartell-St. Stephen Public Schools
  • Kara Rajcic – Visual & Media Arts, University of Minnesota
  • Megan Reynolds – Theater, Hibbing Public Schools
  • Kelly Taylor – Music, Litchfield Public Schools
  • Ashley Williams – Visual Arts, Central Public Schools
  • Karen Zastrow – Music, Randolph Public Schools
Regional Center midpage photo

DEMONSTRATION SCHOOLS/classroom visits

Teachers learning from teachers is at the heart of our Demonstration Schools program. Offering professional development firmly grounded in the classroom, demonstration site teachers annually open their doors to visitors for classroom observation followed by a collaborative debrief session facilitated by one of Perpich Center’s State Arts Education Specialists. With 35 sites across the state, we offer opportunities for observation in dance, media arts, music, theater, visual arts, and dance in the physical education classroom.

Demonstration Schools

 

Dance/Theater

  • Anoka Middle School for the Arts
  • Buffalo High School
  • Lake City High School
  • Lowell Elementary (Duluth)
  • Mississippi Creative Arts (St. Paul)
  • Moorhead High School
  • Paynesville Secondary School
  • Chanhassen High School
  • Hibbing High School

Music

  • Detroit Lakes Middle School
  • Lincoln High School (Thief River Falls)
  • Northern Elementary School (Bemidji)
  • Osseo Park Center High School
  • Otsego Elementary
  • Pillager Elementary
  • Pipestone Middle School
  • Plainville Elgin Millville
  • Renville County West Elementary
  • Rossman Elementary (Detroit Lakes)
  • Saint Louis Park Middle School

Visual and Media Arts

  • Alexandria Area High School
  • Northfield High School
  • Bemidji Middle School
  • Ordean East Middle School (Duluth)
  • Redwood Valley High School
  • Rockford Elementary Arts Magnet
  • Upsala Elementary & High School
  • Rosa Parks Elementary (Mankato)
  • Mississippi Creative Arts (St. Paul)

A Demonstration School visit involves a brief overview and introductions before observing one to three classroom sessions. Participants are provided with school information, demographics, a lesson plan for the day, as well as other resources before observation begins. After observation, participants are encouraged to help guide the conversation by sharing their reflections, curiousities, and wonderings. The goal of the day is to create collaborative conversations and spark ideas for participants own classrooms.

REGIONAL WORKSHOPS

Perpich Center’s Regional Workshops are facilitated by our team of State Arts Education Specialists. Specialists in each of the arts areas take their work on the road delivering workshops in each of the nine Educational Service Cooperative regions. The majority of these workshops are hosted by the Educational Service Cooperatives and all are open to any teachers who would like to attend. Topics vary and are often developed based upon requests directly from teachers who have participated in previous Perpich events.