"There's Just No One Way to Educate a Child!" Honoring Ms. Giselle Scott, The First Louisiana Wolf Trap Educator

As the Louisiana Affiliate of Wolf Trap, YALA supported one of the first Louisiana Wolf Trap trained educators in New Orleans, Ms. Giselle Scott, who is now the Education Supervisor at Educare New Orleans. In 2011, as a new early childhood educator, she noticed that many of her students struggled to recount the sequence of events in stories they read or were told.

When she realized one of the Louisiana Wolf Trap offerings included storytelling, she decided to participate as a teacher in the first Teaching Artist residency. She asked the Resident Teaching Artist Giselle Nakhid to help her integrate storytelling into her regular lessons. Ms. Scott was astonished by how art was used to teach all subjects. "We even had math stories! So not only did it help them with retelling the story, but it helped with simple math concepts." 

Ms. Scott's first residency with Giselle Nahkid, meant that the Teaching Artist would lead the first few lessons, and then she had to "kinda jump in on the last few lessons and do it on my own. So I was really afraid like, would I really be able to do this? But once I saw what type of strategies she was using with the storytelling [like when] we made masks for the characters, I got excited and my fear just went away.” technique Ms. Scott learned involved students imagining that they were in the story. "We asked, 'What do you think it smells like here?' And we let the kids answer open ended questions which allowed them to use their critical thinking skills." These description skills are important for all learners according to Ms. Scott.

As much fun as the residency is for early learners, it is rigorous for the educators. Though she first worked with Giselle Nahkid, Ms. Scott had a second residency later with Nanette Ledet, which also was hands-on and lasted about 6 weeks. As Ms. Scott tells it, "Ms. Ledet began by discussing with me the learning objectives and skills I was teaching in my classroom, and which arts integration strategy I wanted to use. Before beginning the lessons, Ms. Ledet came in to observe the classroom schedule and routines. She then provided a lesson plan for the first lesson.

"The lesson plan included activities, songs, books, vocabulary, instruments and any other materials needed for the lesson. We discussed the lesson plan. Ms. Ledet used a gradual release method with me. For the first lesson, she modeled how the lesson would go. In the next lessons, I joined in presenting the lessons with her. In the final lessons, I led the lesson with Ms. Ledet there supporting me when needed. Before each lesson, she prepared a lesson plan.

"After each lesson, we had a short debriefing to discuss what went well, any changes we felt we needed to make, and what should be included in the next lesson. By actively participating in the planning and implementation of each lesson, I was able to continue implementing arts integration lessons throughout the school year."

But Ms. Scott's modest discussion of her efforts is not the whole story. In short she was amazing! 

Jenny James, the Executive Director of YALA remembers Ms. Scott's first residency which she insisted upon creating, knowing that Giselle Scott was a brand new teacher for Educare. She said of Ms. Scott that,  "we wanted to support her." So together with Giselle Scott, Giselle Nakhid was the first artist to do a Teaching Artist residency at Educare. That's right! There were two Giselle's! According to Ms. James, Giselle Scott was "lit up–she was born to do it and took it on herself to go the extra mile."

You see, Louisiana Wolf Trap training is centered around a book, in this case, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears. Ms. Scott thoroughly impressed Jenny James, who was there to observe the lesson, when she came in beyond prepared to lead the arts lesson. She had made masks for each of the children and showed up herself fully in character. The children loved it!!

This is the kind of work Giselle Scott both loves and excels at. As an educator, she is seeing the fulfillment of a dream. "Because I taught higher levels and eventually started teaching the babies, I had students who didn’t have a foundation. Teaching the babies and being able to give them that foundation that they need helps us as teachers." Offering so many ways to teach skills is important to that foundation. Louisiana Wolf Trap methods make sure that every learning style is included in this foundation.

As Ms. Scott told me, "There's just no one way to teach a child!"

Ms. Scott came to appreciate all of the different ways that Wolf Trap helps educators integrate art into the curriculum, "like when we’re learning with instruments and dance, all this helps teachers make learning fun!”

YALA loves Ms. Scott and is delighted to celebrate the work she has done to make learning fun in New Orleans!

As we know, early learning years lay the foundation for one’s lifelong learning. As the school year begins, many caregivers of infants and toddlers also search for the scarce in-person educational opportunities that exist for young people from birth to preschool age. Luckily, Young Audiences of Louisiana has a free and accessible Wolf Trap option available for caregivers.

YALA's Baby ArtsPlay!™Workshop series and pop ups help caregivers discover strategies and techniques for integrating arts into early education to unlock children’s innate desire for joyful, active learning!

Please join us at one of the pop-ups or series featured in this newsletter to unlock your child's learning with art! You'll find YALA's Baby ArtsPlay!™ at museums, City Park, and more throughout the year. Check out our website for more information and join our mailing list to get updates!