Last weekend, Asolo Repertory Theatre's Education and Engagement team held two workshops as part of their Sharing Stories program, encouraging families to bring literature to life through different methods of storytelling. Saturday's workshop took place at The Bishop Museum; Sunday's was held at the Sarasota Art Museum.

Each Sharing Stories event centers around a book or story, inviting language learners to explore together using their minds, bodies, and voices. Asolo Rep Teaching Artists leading the events are highly-qualified educators, talented performers, and incredible artists sharing a passion for teaching. Many hold advanced degrees and teaching certifications, while also having practical stage and film experience. They love to connect with the community, and work together to design workshops that are responsive to their audience and meaningful for families. Most of the workshops are focused on children ages 3-7—really honing in on connecting literacy and communication skills with movement and imagination, but often, older students and parents will join in. The storytelling artists are able to respond to and work with all ages in the room.

While the programs can be drop-off events, most of the time, parents choose to stay. “It's exciting to watch families experience stories together. Parents see their students' creativity blossom and students get to see their parents getting a chance to be silly,” says Sara Brunow, Asolo’s Muriel O’Neil Education and Engagement Director. “This is a new program for us, but it's work that our staff and teaching artists have been doing for many years. We love to bring storybooks into the work we do with young people.”

Each book used for the workshop is 'beloved' in some way. “Some are beloved because they are well-known, like What Do You Do with an Idea?, and some will be beloved because they are magical,” says Brunow. “We tend to choose the book based on where we are going and who we are working with. Favorites have been books by Matt de la Pena, Jon Klaasen, Mac Barnett, and so many more.”

The Sharing Stories program is an opportunity for the Education and Engagement team to connect with the community and to introduce theater in an accessible and meaningful way. “By starting with a book, we are automatically hitting at the heart of theater, which lies in stories,” adds Brunow. “We use our bodies, minds and voices to make stories come to life, connecting with literacy for English language learners. Finally, we invite young people and their families to create works of art, allowing them to make the story theirs and reflect on what they've just seen and heard. It's a fun, creative experience.”

Want to bring Sharing Stories into your community or classroom? Contact education@asolo.org, attention: Gaby. 

Pictured: Asolo Rep Teaching Artist Imani Williams performs Aaron Slater: Illustrated by Andrea Beatty at Activating Words at the Sarasota Art Museum's Free Second Sunday. Photo courtesy of Asolo Rep.

To learn more about upcoming Sharing Stories events click here.

Sarasota County Schools recently announced that Pine View School’s Dr. Stephen Covert has been selected as the district’s Principal of the Year, and Brookside Middle School’s Ms. Jessica Fuesy has been selected as the district’s Assistant Principal of the Year. Dr. Covert and Ms. Fuesy are now in the running for Principal of the Year and Assistant Principal of the Year, respectively, at the state level! The Florida Department of Education’s Principal Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership (Principal of the Year) was established in 1988 to recognize Florida principals for their contributions to their schools and communities. FDOE’s Outstanding Assistant Principal Achievement Award (Assistant Principal of the Year) was established in 1997 to honor assistant principals that have utilized teamwork and leadership to increase student achievement and greatly improved school environments. Florida’s Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz, Jr., will announce three state-level finalists for each award this coming spring. The finalist for each award will be revealed in the coming summer. Sarasota County Schools has received two prior Florida Principal of the Year awards. Alta Vista Elementary School’s Dr. Barbara Shirley (Ret.) received the honor in 2014, and Booker High School’s Dr. Rachel Shelley received the honor in 2017. 

Children are the rock stars at WSLR’s next free Family Night featuring Kids Karaoke Saturday, Nov. 19 from 5-8 p.m. at Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center, 525 Kumquat Court. Kids 12 and younger are invited to share their talents on Fogartyville's stage -- music, spoken word, comedy, and, of course, karaoke are all welcome. A kids clothing swap will also take place. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to bring their own bags and gently used clothing organized by size. Dinner will be available at Chef Richard's Kumquat Kitchen and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available for purchase. The Fogartyville doors will be open to the newly renovated patio for bean bag toss and other outdoor games. For more information and to RSVP for Family Night, visit www.fogartyville.org.

The Downtown Improvement District has the distinct honor of kicking off the holiday celebrations in downtown Sarasota with the return of Shop. Stroll. Sing! Taking place on State Street on Friday, December 2nd from 7 to 10 p.m., the event will see the return of some fan-favorite features such as holiday karaoke and a forecast of “snow.” Headlining the entertainment and serving as the M.C. is Brandon Wardell, a singer, actor, producer, and all-around talent with Broadway credentials.  As guests enter the event zone through a cloud of “snow,” they will come across another robust roster of hospitality partners serving up food and beverages for purchase. This month’s hospitality partners include 1592 Wood Fired Kitchen, Gator Club, Art Ovation Hotel, Brick’s Smoked Meats and State Street Eating House + Cocktails, with special guests Rise & Nye’s serving treats from a dessert station. In addition to downtown restaurants, the event will see support and engagement from retail merchants within the DID in the form of a holiday prize. On the day of the event, any guest that shows up before 8 p.m. with a receipt of a purchase made at a retail merchant in the DID on Dec. 2nd will have a chance to win a gift basket full of holiday gifts from participating merchants. Finally, guests who arrive early will have access to a variety of free giveaways for adults and children, including signature party favors and free holiday Polaroid portraits. Shop. Stroll. Sing! takes place on State Street between Lemon Avenue and the State Street parking garage entrance, which will remain accessible from Orange Avenue to the east and Ringling Boulevard to the south. In addition, on-street parking is available in the surrounding area. 

Sarasota Memorial Hospital received another “A” in the Fall 2022 Hospital Safety report cards released by the Leapfrog Group Wednesday. The national distinction recognizes the Sarasota hospital for its continuous achievements in protecting hospitalized patients from medical errors and preventable harm. The latest grades provide a continuing look at the impact of COVID-19 on patient safety in nearly 3,000 hospitals nationwide, as well as a new focus on a decade of patient safety initiatives demonstrated by the nation’s hospitals. Many hospitals that received lower scores in the pandemic-era timeframe, reflecting how patient care worsened due to strains on the health care system and workforce, improved during the latest grading period. Sarasota Memorial is the only hospital in the region that has maintained a straight-A streak since 2016. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harms to patients. Leapfrog assigns grades to hospitals based on 30 national performance measures reflecting each hospital’s record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The grading system is fully transparent and free to the public, and grades are updated biannually in the fall and in the spring to help patients choose the safest hospitals for their care. SMH-Venice, which opened in November 2021, was not open long enough to be included in Leapfrog’s current study. The Leapfrog grading system is peer-reviewed, free to the public and designed to help patients choose the safest hospitals for their care. To view the Fall 2022 result, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org. 

The Florida Swims Foundation (Foundation) has unveiled its new “Swim for Life” license plate that is now available for pre-order through the Florida Swims Foundation website in conjunction with the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles. The Foundation, which operates under the umbrella of the Florida Swimming Pool Association (FSPA), collaborated with graphic designers at Converge Public Strategies to create the license plate art. Sales of the plate will benefit the Foundation’s mission to fund swimming lessons for children throughout the state of Florida. The license plate is currently accepting pre-orders through a variety of options. The specialty license plate will be offered to motor vehicle owners statewide once it hits a 3,000 minimum pre-order threshold. Once met, production will begin immediately on the plates and they will be distributed to drivers statewide. 

To learn more click here.

The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport is pleased to offer our customers holiday discount parking located at 8101 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Florida. The U.S. 41 Holiday Discount Parking Lot will open for entry Monday, November 21 st through Wednesday, November 23 rd . Shuttle service will take passengers directly to the terminal. The cost is $5 per day with limited availability.  

A very special pre-holiday event will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 18, 2022, when the Manatee Church Women United host the annual Migrant Tea at Trinity United Methodist Church. The location is 3200 Manatee Avenue West in Bradenton. The Manatee Church Women United is a cross-denominational group that represents more than 40 churches. The Migrant Tea is an opportunity for them to provide local migrant families with donations of handmade goods such as blankets, quilts, baby clothes, and other new items that families may need like clothing, diapers, toys and more. Kindergarten students from Myakka City Elementary School will perform during the event.For more information, please contact Mario Mendoza, Migrant Coordinator at 941-751-6550, ext. 43333. 

VINTAGE ON WHEELS

Join us as we share the moving sculpture stories of Mike Carrigan, Molly Summers, Nick VINOGRADOV, Bill Lessig, Jeff Davis, and Daniel Slottke through this link, on our social media, or in the November edition of SRQ Magazine! 

Read Here!