The Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University will host the third annual Inspiring Teachers Conference in partnership with Young Audiences Arts for Learning Virginia (YAV) on Friday, July 20 on the university campus.

The Inspiring Teachers Conference is an unforgettable learning opportunity for teachers to energize their classroom methods, learn arts-integration techniques, and try different approaches to core curriculum through hands-on experiences with different art forms. Through dance, visual art, theater, and music, educators will explore math, science, history, literacy and more. To register, visit itc2018.eventbrite.com.

Santina Protopapa, director of educational partnerships at Lincoln Center Education (LCE), will be the keynote speaker. Protopapa's presentation will explore how arts-integrated partnerships help foster a culture of discovery, design, and collaborative communication.

The day-long conference features facilitated panel discussions to provide opportunities to speak to YAV's professional teaching artists on approaches to blending the arts with core curricula. Breakout sessions include in-depth lecture-demonstrations and movement opportunities to learn and work through an arts-integrated curriculum designed especially for specific grades and subjects.

Session Highlights include:

Artists' Panel on Addressing Social-Emotional intelligence through the arts to promote consciousness, community, and safety

Art & The Military Inclusive Classroom

WHRO, The Mariners Museum, PFAC and TLC Puppets

The Miseducation of Storytelling: Diversity and Cultural Differences in the classroom

Inspiring Global Responsibility through STEAM

All participants will receive contract hours toward CEU license renewal.

Additional sponsors include Old Point National Bank and the Virginia Lottery.

Young Audiences Arts for Learning Virginia is the leading provider of high quality arts-in-education programming in Virginia. YAV offers an array of arts performances and workshops grounded in Virginia's core curriculum, residencies for children of all ages, and professional development for teachers in arts-integration techniques that improve students' literacy skills, motivation to read, and ability to learn. PRA Group is YAV's signature sponsor. For more information, visit www.yav.org, or call (757) 466-7555