Arts Education That Inspires
Students at the Erie Art Museum
As the school year wrapped, we also finished up the second successful year of our Educational Passport Program. Educational Passport is a unique experiential learning program designed to expose Erie County students to local arts and culture organizations. Funded by a generous grant from Erie Insurance, the program brings together students at United Way Community Schools with arts and culture partners, allowing the students and the organizations to connect through classroom visits, field trips, and offering free tickets for students to return with their families. Our six partners, the expERIEnce Children’s Museum, Erie Philharmonic, Erie Playhouse, Hagen History Center, Erie Art Museum, and Tall Ships Erie, were each partnered with a specific grade at each school. This year, in addition to returning schools Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary and Union City Elementary, we added two more schools: Elk Valley Elementary and McKinley Elementary. This expansion allowed us to connect with over 1,000 more students and teachers than last year, with a total of 1,948 Erie County students served by the program during the 2025-26 school year.
Kindergarten students at all four schools enjoyed visits from the Children’s Museum’s Mobile Museum, bringing fun and educational exhibits to their schools, followed by an exciting field trip to the Museum itself. First graders got to learn about music and try out musical instruments such as cellos, violins, trombones, and drums during two school visits from the Erie Philharmonic. Second grade students were treated to a production of Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School at the Erie Playhouse, followed by a school visit where they were taught some of the choreography. The Hagen History Center visited third grade classrooms to prepare students for their visit to the Museum, where they got to enjoy exhibits about Erie’s history, as well as participating in a scavenger hunt at the historic Watson-Curtze Mansion. Cherokee Nation storyteller Robert Lewis also visited the schools, making history come alive for the students. Fourth graders visited the Erie Art Museum, interacting with the various exhibits through creative and fun activities that tied in with each artist’s medium and process. And fifth graders learned sea shanties from teaching artist Kelly Armor before embarking on a sail on the Lettie G. Howard at the Bayfront Maritime Center.
We look forward to continuing this program in the 2026-27 school year, with an eye toward expanding it to serve more students in the future.
Students dancing with the Erie Playhouse
Students sailing on the Lettie G. Howard
Student playing at the Children’s Museum
Students at The Hagan History Center
Student playing a cello with the Erie Philharmonic
Erie Arts and Culture is dedicated to helping to bring quality arts education to all of Erie County’s United Way Community Schools. Through generous funding from Erie Insurance Investing in Our Futures grant, we are able to bring teaching artists from multiple disciplines to provide vibrant and exciting arts experiences for students from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Each program is tailored to the needs of a particular school, sometimes supplementing existing programs, and in other cases bringing in new artistic disciplines and cultural experiences. During the 2025-26 school year, we were able to connect with and offer programming in all United Way Community Schools in Erie County. Some highlights:
Ceasar Westbrook worked with students at Perry Elementary and Iroquois Elementary to brighten up their hallways and walkways with brand new murals.
Sara Fisher held yearlong after school Improv workshops with the students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School.
Ja’Leesa Williams of Sew Royalty taught sewing workshops at Strong Vincent Middle School and Grover Cleveland Elementary.
Dance instructors Alyca Price and Ramani Rosa worked with the Blackouts, a student-led dance team at Erie High School, helping them refine their choreography and giving them tips and instruction as they competed and performed.
Alex “Lonesav” Staley taught shoe design workshops at Iroquois, Edison, and Lincoln Elementary Schools, where the students not only designed their own sneakers, but actually got the custom-made shoes they designed.
Jessie Simmons taught a ceramics workshop at Jefferson Elementary.
Hayes Moses taught Kindergarten-2nd grade students at JoAnna Connell Elementary about theater, introducing them to fun and imaginative improv games and storytelling techniques.
Sara Fisher worked with teachers and students at East Middle School to teach acting and performance skills for the school’s brand new drama club, assisting at rehearsals for the school’s first production, a play called “Box.”
John C. Lyons taught filmmaking at Harding Elementary, collaborating with the students on public service announcements, which were aired during morning announcements at the school, allowing the students to learn all aspects of film production.
Steve Mik worked with students at Elk Valley Elementary to produce a new mural in the school library.
Marquis Wallace taught watercolor painting in McKinley Elementary’s art classes.
Victoria Angelo brought South Sudanese song and dance to K-2 students at Pfeiffer Burleigh Elementary
David Kambowa taught students in Diehl Elementary music classes joyful traditional African songs.
Erie Arts and Culture is grateful for the funding from Erie Insurance to do this important programming, and for our partnership with the United Way in facilitating these residencies.
