The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Education

Welcome to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education (KC-PIE) program for mid-Michigan. The Kennedy Center serves as the national umbrella for statewide arts education partnerships between schools and arts organizations. Currently, close to 100 partnership teams in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia participate in the program. Ingham Intermediate School District and Wharton Center for Performing Arts have been the Mid-Michigan Partnership Team since 2006.

The KC-PIE program is based on the belief that teachers’ professional learning is an essential component of any effort designed to increase the artistic literacy of young people. The primary purpose of these partnerships is to provide teachers with professional training in arts education.

Each year a dedicated group of administrators, teaching artists, and classroom teachers commit to expanding the role the arts play in classrooms. The KC-PIE program strives to support teachers in these efforts. We hope that you will learn more about the program, ask questions, think in new ways, and join us in this important work.

Barb Whitney, Administrative Coordinator, Ingham ISD
Kelly Stuible-Clark, Senior Education Program Manager, Wharton Center Institute for Arts & Creativity

Arts Education Breakfast

Each year, the Mid-Michigan KC-PIE Partnership Team hosts the Arts Education Breakfast. This event brings together educators, superintendents, principals, politicians and artists to showcase how mid-Michigan schools are integrating arts into classrooms.

15th Annual Arts Education Breakfast
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
8:30-10:00 AM
Jackson Lounge, Wharton Center

Arts Integration Training For Educators

Read Art Across the Curriculum

Facilitated by Garrett Brown

Garrett is a national teaching artist who specializes in cartooning, illustration, and sequential art (comic books). He earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Missouri Kansas City, where he resides with his family. He earned a master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Missouri St. Louis.

This workshop introduces the language of visual art so that teachers feel confident looking at, thinking, and talking about art with their students. Learn about resources for building a library of images that can be used to efficiently build background knowledge, teach content, generate points of inquiry for research, and assess understanding in social studies, science, and reading.

August 27 (Focus on foundational lessons for reading art)
September 24 (Focus on literature/fiction/reading)
October 22 (Focus on facilitating and managing meaningful conversations)
November 19 (Focus on Science/Social Studies/Nonfiction)
December 17 (Focus on planning and truly making  this an approach to teaching)

Open to teachers grade K-5.

Sessions are from 9am-2pm and take place at Wharton Center. Lunch will be provided at all sessions.

Cost: $200, SCECHs are available.

Arts Enhancement Workshops for Students

Arts Enhancement

Arts Enhancement workshops offer a learning experience in fine and performing arts centered around a specific discipline. These workshops serve to enhance the classroom learning teachers provide by connecting curriculum to one of the four targeted arts areas.

A team of professional teaching artists provide a three-, five-, or eight-session package in the following disciplines: