Schools Programs
Utilizing play with students and faculty
Cultivating a More Playful Presence
Gaining Perspective supports schools with a fully-integrated social-emotional curriculum for structural learning.
Improvisation immediately challenges our automatic behaviors, which makes it a powerful and accessible way to become more self-aware.
Kerstin is passionately committed to helping students create awareness to develop self-management and self-advocacy skills that empower them to view challenging situations as an opportunity to respond and grow.
Student Programs
Keeping Kids Grounded in Play
Over the span of nearly a decade as an Artist in Residence at William Smith High School in Aurora, Kerstin developed an Improvisation-based curriculum to teach teens how to be present and more self-aware.
Kerstin uses Improvisation to help students explore choices and actions in a variety of situations. As students become more self aware they begin to feel less anxious. They’re more willing to take risks. Students feel empowered to control the choices they make, first in games and then in real-life situations. When students are able to move beyond reactive behaviors, they’re better equipped to build conscious habits that lead to thoughtful life decisions.
Professional Development for School Leaders
Based on the needs of the teaching staff, Kerstin meets with the school leaders to craft a presence-based Improvisation program for Professional Development sessions. The focus of these sessions includes:
Recognizing and challenging any habitual thoughts based on untested assumptions or theories.
Understanding the thought patterns activated in different situations.
Identifying personal habits or limits related to communicating your needs or preferences
Consulting Programs
Utilize Kerstin’s knowledge and methods to design a curriculum for your school.
Guiding teachers in how to implement her work has become a passion project. Since Kerstin can’t be in every school at once, she offers consulting that helps you develop a customized curriculum for your students and staff.
As a result of her intentional planning with teachers and school leaders, the focus of the work gives students experience in learning how to engage:
Emotion
Develop habits that help them focus, manage distractions, and learn strategies to regulate their emotional state.
Acceptance
Become more aware and accepting of other people’s ideas, perspectives and behaviors.
Fear
Challenge limiting thoughts or fixed mindsets when confronting a new or challenging situation.
Communication
Communicate and self-advocate using clear and descriptive language.