Integrated Teaching Through the Arts

Maureen Creegan-Quinquis is department chair for the STEAM and Teaching and Learning programs in the Graduate School of Education. She is also the director of the Master of Education in Teacher of Visual Arts licensure programs and the arts in education programs. She works in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and digital. Her work appears on the covers of "Sites," a French journal published by Routledge-Taylor & Francis. Maureen exhibits at a variety of galleries. Most recent exhibits include Boston Drawing Collaborative at the Bernard Toale Gallery and Ward Nasse Gallery in New York.

In July 2021, the Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA) named Maureen their newly elected President-Elect. This six year position typically includes a two year position as President-Elect, a two year position as President, and a two year position as Past President. Maureen is stepping into the President-Elect role with just over five months left and will be the President of MAEA as of January 1, 2022.

In addition, Maureen received MAEA's 2022 Distinguished Service within the Profession Award.

July 2017: Presenter at Creativity at the Core Summer Institute, California County Superintendents Education Services Association. Exploring Text through Visual Arts and Poetry

Maureen weighs in on how to prevent bullying in schools.

Susan Fisher has over 40 years’ experience as a visual artist and arts educator. An accomplished ceramic sculptor, photographer, and calligrapher, she is actively involved in art making, and exhibits regularly. She finds that staying involved in the creative process is vital to her work as an arts educator.

At Lesley, Susan serves as an adjunct faculty and faculty academic advisor in graduate arts in education programs, and teaches courses in visual art, art education, and strategies for integrating the arts with students of all abilities. She is also adjunct faculty at Worcester State University, where she teaches courses in studio art and art education. 

Susan weaves theory and practice into all of her integrative arts courses. She has been the recipient of multiple Massachusetts Cultural Council STARS grants to fund an Artist in Residency program at Columbus Park School in Worcester, MA, which links literacy with the art making process for all learners. She has a strong background in working with students of all abilities in inclusive settings.

She worked as an artist in residence, trainer, author and coordinator for VSA arts Massachusetts. In her career as an arts educator, she has worked to make the arts accessible for students of all ages and abilities. She has spent many years in schools across Massachusetts as an artist educator and as a consultant and professional development trainer to support artists, teachers, parents, and administrators learn about the power of the arts in education and the possibilities that arts integration offers for all students to experience success. Susan is a contributing author to Integrating the Arts Across Content Areas.

Education: BA, Clark University (Studio Art), M.Ed. from Clark University (Art Education)

Jennifer teaches in the Integrated Teaching Through the Arts and literacy programs at Lesley. She teaches The Language of Poetry and The Teaching of Writing K-12. For nearly two decades, Jennifer taught elementary school (grades one through five) and received the honor of Teacher of the Year as a first grade teacher. She is also a former literacy coach and served on the Maine State Literacy Team. As a published author for Shell Education, Teacher Created Materials, and Penguin/Random House, she writes books, articles, and educator guides for teachers. Jennifer has presented for professional organizations including the National Council of Teachers of English and the Center for Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative.

Jennifer's doctoral research focused on transitional readers, specifically the sociology of families, reading pedagogy, and family and school engagement. She is known for her passion for teaching writing and instilling a love of writing in students of all ages.

Education

M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, Specialization in Language, Reading, and Writing, Lesley University
PhD in Educational Studies, Lesley University

Melissa Kwasny is the author of six books of poetry, as well as a collection of essays on art and poetics. She is also the editor of two anthologies, Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry 1800-1950 and I Go to the Ruined Place: Contemporary Poets in Defense of Global Human Rights. She teaches off campus in Lesley University’s Integrated Teaching through the Arts M.Ed. program, for which, since 2000, she travels to teachers throughout the West, helping them learn to use poetry writing as a powerful language for student expression as well as a creative tool for deeper understanding in all subjects.

Education

M.F.A. in Poetry, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana
M.A. in Literature, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana

A theater artist and arts-based researcher, Dr. Donovan teaches arts integration, action research, and arts-based literacy courses. She has broad experience working as an arts educator and administrator in organizations that include Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Berkshire Opera Company, University of Massachusetts' Department of Theater, and Boston University's Theater, Visual Arts and Tanglewood Institutes. She was formerly Executive Director of the Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education. She is co-principal investigator of the Integrated Teaching through the Arts Assessment project funded by the Ford Foundation. Dr. Donovan was previously the director of the Graduate School of Education's arts in education programs. She is currently professor in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Education

BA, State University of New York, Oneonta
MS, Boston University
PhD, Lesley University

Christina Burress is an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University, where she teaches Language of Poetry in the Curriculum and Instruction: Integrated Teaching Through the Arts program. She is also a full-time literature teacher and chair at The Grauer School, an independent college preparatory school, where she gets to practice her passion first hand: integrating arts in the curriculum. In addition, she teaches poetry as an adjunct faculty at U.C.S.D. Extension. In July 2017, Boston Ivy Global invited her to represent Lesley University as a professional development lead instructor to teach arts integration to seventy K-12 English teachers from Daxing school district in China. She has most recently published pieces in the San Diego Poetry Annual. Christina lives in San Diego, California.

Kim Silbaugh has been a teacher since 1980. She currently is an adjunct instructor for Lesley University in arts integration and Western Colorado State University in the areas of research and curriculum and instruction. Kim has presented at national conferences, consulted with school districts on technology and arts integration, received awards for excellence in education, as well as being a recipient of the Power of Art awarded by Robert Rauschenberg. She has been involved with the Kennedy Center teaching artist program, participated in an internship in Ravenna, Italy, doing mosaics, and has been accepted into juried shows for her steel and glass sculptures. Kim believes the arts are a natural pairing with other curricular areas of study and has taught several STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) residencies.

Education

BS in Art Education, Drake University
M.Ed. in Technology in Education, Lesley University
PhD in Education Leadership with an emphasis on technology, Breyer State University

Dawn Kolakoski is an adjunct professor in the Creative Arts in Learning programs in the Graduate School of Education, where she has taught since 2003. She has experience as an elementary music teacher, choir director and organist, music studio owner, national trainer for teachers in music and art, professor and department chair of a large undergraduate teacher education program, and most recently, as Director of Online Instruction at Northern Virginia Community College near Washington, D.C.

She has been teaching teachers for over 30 years. Her interests include integrating the arts into the classroom, curriculum development, mentoring beginning teachers, early childhood education, educational leadership, and online instruction. She teaches the courses Multiple Perspectives through Music; Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; and Educator Inquiry: Seminar and Thesis Project.