Madison’s local CBS affiliate, WISC-TV/Ch. 3, recently put the spotlight on the School of Education’s Whoopensocker program and its efforts to start connecting with people online.
UW-Madison’s Erica Halverson, who developed Whoopensocker as part of the UW Community Arts Collaboratory in the office of Professional Learning and Community Education (PLACE), explains to WISC-TV’s Michael Bruno how the program has traditionally featured in-person, arts-based, community-building experiences.
Since its launch in 2015, Whoopensocker’s ensemble of teaching artists had come into elementary school classrooms and community centers in the Madison area for six-week sessions — meeting once a week for 90 minutes. Together, the students and teaching artists would explore different aspects of dramatic structure and creative writing, and similarly learn improvisation games and act out stories.
One of the program’s highlights would come about two weeks after the last classroom session, when Whoopensocker’s professional actors would turn students’ creative works into vaudeville-style plays or musical numbers, which were then performed for the whole school.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and ongoing calls from health officials to stay at home and practice social distancing — the in-person meetings and public shows are currently not possible.
But the show must go on.
Halverson, a professor with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, tells Bruno that Whoopensocker has spent the past two weeks figuring out how best to take its successful, in-person efforts and transition its focus to online interaction. In particular, Halverson highlights the team’s efforts to launch a new Whoopensocker YouTube channel.
On this platform, Halverson and her team share out roughly a video per day. Some of this work showcases previous school programs that were video-taped. The Whoopensocker team — which includes about 40 professional teaching artists — has also started uploading new content, often in the form of 3-minute videos showcasing a live performance or story.
Halverson also notes during the “Backstage with Bruno” segment that the Whoopensocker team is also planning to start a podcast.
Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Whoopensocker finished a residency at Stephens Elementary School in Madison. The team is in the process of finding a way to bring this show to the pubic via an online platform.
For the latest videos from Whoopensocker, check out the group’s YouTube channel or Facebook Page, or look for updates on the Arts Collaboratory website.
Also view the entire WISC-TV/Ch. 3 report via this YouTube link.
Halverson has spent nearly two decades examining topics related to how people learn in and through the arts, across a range of art forms, with a focus on the performing arts. Through these efforts, Halverson is committed to demonstrating the valuable role arts-based approaches can play in the lives of children.