CAPE STEAM Ahead 2022 End of Year Reception and Exhibition
STEAM Ahead: Arts and Science Learning from Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163
This exhibit highlights the STEAM-focused CAPE collaboration with Park Forest-Chicago Heights District 163, and includes work from 21st Century, Blackhawk, and Mohawk elementary schools, and Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM.
Welcome to STEAM Ahead: Arts and Science Learning from Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163.
STEAM Ahead is a four-year arts-integrated program developed by Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) to service District 163 students and teachers from kindergarten through 5th-grade in Mohawk, Blackhawk, and 21st Century Primary Centers, and Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM.
Salon Artists Gallery
294 Main St., Park Forest, IL 60466
Exhibition Dates: May 9th – May 30th, 2022
For STEAM Ahead students, teachers, and artists, art forms an investigative learning process in understanding, applying, and connecting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts, thus forming STEAM teaching and learning.
The STEAM Ahead curriculum was co-planned and co-taught by teams of District 163 teachers and their partnering artists, who also attended professional development sessions on STEAM-focused topics. This exhibition highlights drawings, sculptures, installations, and animations created by over 800 students who combined artistic research and STEM practices to examine how they experience, perceive and understand the natural world and built environments around them.
Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) is an organization that works with kindergarten through twelfth grade students and teachers in public schools throughout Chicago and in the suburbs. CAPE partners artists of all disciplines with teachers and students to co-create arts-integrated classroom projects that investigate academic contents, social-emotional learning, and contemporary arts practices. Ongoing professional development for teachers and artists, research on the impact of the arts on teaching and learning, and public exhibitions and events are part of all CAPE programs and support for schools.
STEAM Ahead is funded by the U.S. Department Education Assistance for Arts Education Development and Dissemination program grant, part of the USDOE’s Arts In Education National Program.
School Educator Teams
21st Century Primary Center
Andrea Mele, K-3 STEM Teacher
Jordan Knecht, Teaching Artist
David Sprecher, Teaching Artist
Mohawk Primary Center
Lori Mitchell, K-3 STEM Teacher
Andrés Lemus-Spont, Teaching Artist
Marya Spont-Lemus, Teaching Artist
Blackhawk Primary Center
Eileen Ward, K-3 STEM Teacher
Molly Cranch, Teaching Artist
Kimberly Moore, Teaching Artist
Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM
Francesca Wessely, 4th and 5th Grade Visual Arts Teacher
Niema Qureshi, Teaching Artist
Neal Vandenbergh, Teaching Artist
Lauren McLennan, 4th Grade Social Science Teacher
Laleh Motlagh, Teaching Artist
Arthur Capps, 5th Grade Social Science Teacher
Alana Ferguson, Teaching Artist
Kimberly Biciste, 4th Grade Social Science/Math Teacher
Kaneda Irvin, 4th Grade Social Science/ELA Teacher
Kindell Smith, 4th Grade Social Science/Science Teacher
Marc Fischer, Teaching Artist
Dorothy Jones, 5th Grade Social Science/ELA Teacher
Anita Meskill, 5th Grade Social Science/Science, Teacher
Chrissy O’Malley, 5th Grade Social Science/Math
Michael Lopez, Teaching Artist
