SEL-Ensemble.org

Our Board

Becky McTague, Ed.D

Writer and Educator

Linda B. Pincham, Ed.D

Associate Prof. Secondary Ed

Roosevelt University

Shannon Huneryager, MM

Musician and Actor

Shannon is a singer, music theater artist, musician, actor, teaching artist, and writer. A passionate teaching artist and alumna actor/teacher with the Missoula Children’s Theatre, Shannon has taught at the Old Town School of Folk Music, Play In A Book, and Columbia College’s Project Aim. She has adapted four musicals for youth theater and has also written two play adaptations for young audiences. She has a BA from Butler University and an MM in vocal performance from the University of Massachusetts. She is also an alumna of Columbia College’s Teaching Artist Development Cohort of 2015.

Dr. Becky McTague is an Emeritus Associate Professor from Roosevelt University currently teaching both there and at DePaul University. She has written three co-authored books, several chapters, and various articles. Her current co-authored book is Aligning Social-Emotional and 21st Century Learning in the Classroom: Emerging Research and Opportunity (2021). One of her favorite activities is teaching future and current teachers how to employ social and emotional learning in their classrooms so language acquisition and literacy development may grow and, thus, students' social and emotional skills.

Dr. Linda B. Pincham is Associate Professor Emerita, Roosevelt University, College of Education. Illinois. For over twenty years at Roosevelt, she taught students preparing to become middle and high school teachers and served as chair in secondary education. Prior to joining the university, she taught English language arts at the middle and high school level for thirteen years and was a middle school assistant principal and principal for eleven years. She is a co-author of the book Social-Emotional and 21st Century Learning in the Classroom: Emerging Research and Opportunity (2021).

MISSION STATEMENT

LAURA ST. JOHN, Curriculum Consultant

SEL Ensemble seeks to demonstrate the inherent value of the arts in Social Emotional Learning and explore ways in which building ensemble may be used as a model to instruct students in cultivating inter-and intra-personal skills.

ABOUT

We offer direct service programming both in-school and OST for PreK – Grade 8 classrooms that range from 10 sessions to 40+sessions, depending on a school’s needs and resources. SEL-Ensemble focuses specifically on outcomes connecting to the SEL skills of self-management and self-discipline, interpersonal and relationship skills, and self-expression and identity how these skills can clearly be demonstrated successfully in a drama or performance experience. Student gain is measured through participation in whole groups, small group, partner, and individual arts activities, and students who struggle with joining the class ensemble are pulled to participate in small group intervention.

ARTS INTEGRATION

It is our belief that an arts-based approach, specifically through drama, is a key component to building self-discipline, interpersonal and relationship skills, and self expression and identity.

Laura St. John is founder and president of Play In A Book. Having spent over twenty years as a Teaching Artist serving thousands of students in more than 50 Chicago Public Schools, Laura provides a unique perspective on the connection between literacy and drama. Her materials and curriculum give equal weight to both, and create a truly engaging method to develop reading skills. Laura is a trained actor with a degree in Theatre Performance from Ball State University and she is a member of Actor’s Equity Association, the International Literacy Association, and the Illinois Reading Council, and she is a board member of the Chicago Area Reading Association (CARA). As author of The Act It Read It Series™ (Play In A Book) and a collaborator on the children's book Through the Cracks (Davis Publications), she is an advocate of an arts-based education. Laura lives in Chicago with her husband and two daughters.

PREFERRED VENDOR

We are a preferred vendor for both Out of School Time Health and Wellness Products and Community Schools Initiative Partner Agency Services. Please see the CPS Marketplace shopping portal for more information.