Educating - Irene J. Kuykendall

Curriculum Creation, Program Development, and Classroom Instruction

OBJECTIVE:
To inspire the next generation of arts educators and theatre practitioners by nurturing and encouraging creative exploration, supporting technical, focused, and disciplined development, and examining and producing challenging work through theatrical study, arts integration, curriculum development, and live performance.

Curriculum Creation

Curriculum Creation Credits

Irene Kuykendall is an artist and education specialist with vast expertise in curriculum creation. Her experience includes working with varied age ranges such as

Infants – Preschool Aged

Pre-K – Kindergarten Aged

1st – 5th Grade (Elementary Aged)

6th – 8th Grade (Middle School Aged)

9th – 12th Grade (High School Aged), Pre-professional Training

Collegiate Level and Adult Instruction

The subjects she instructs include Arts Integration, Story Drama and Dramatic Play, Acting, Singing, Dancing and Movement, Stage Combat, Shakespeare, Musical Theatre, Audition Technique, Improvisation, Public Speaking, Theatre Aesthetics, Winning Presentations, and more!

Irene Kuykendall has experience building and facilitating custom workshops and programs focused on the individual needs of a classroom, school or organization. Additionally, she enjoys collaborating with and offering professional development training to public school teachers, day school directors, and various early childhood educators to integrate the arts into their classrooms. As a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist and through the Disney Musicals in Schools program, Irene has offered a scaffolded on-ramp for non-theatrical educators to build their creative skillset.

Prof. Kuykendall is currently employed by Virginia Commonwealth University as an adjunct professor in Oral Communication & Presentation and Effective Speech for the School of the Arts and in Winning Presentations for the School of Business. Previously, she instructed at Brightpoint Community College as an adjunct professor in Theatre Aesthetics and Public Speaking for the Department of Arts and Humanities.

As a High School Theatre Teacher, an Adjunct Professor, and a Teacher Trainer, Irene has worked with young professionals, young adults, college students, and adults as they fine-tune skills, gain confidence, and grow.

For further details on Irene’s curriculum creation experience, please visit IJK Arts & Education at: ijkartseducation.com (Currently under construction)

Program Development

Program Development Credits

Irene Kuykendall’s Program Development Credits include the following…

Creating and implementing curricula for Virginia Rep’s many library, public school, private school, homeschool, and preschool center programs (ages 3-18) including:
❖ Tiny Tales | Story Drama | Imaginative Play | Wolf Trap: Early literacy and reading readiness arts integration programs for preschoolers
❖ Improv & Theatre Games | Physical Theatre & Movement | Safe Stage Combat: Elementary, middle and high school performance courses
❖ Let’s Put on a Show! | Radio Play: Fully staged educational theatre productions
❖ Acting Technique | Audition Preparation | Monologues: High school and college pre-professional training

Developing, coordinating and instructing various afterschool programs in partnership with: RPS, CCPS, HCPS, the YMCA and Next Up, including: A.C.T.; Acting & Theatre Games; Fairy Tales Reimagined; Slapstick Comedy; Safe Stage Combat; Let’s Tell a Story!

Coordinating and instructing at all Virginia Rep Camps (for ages 3 – 18) including:
❖ Dramatic Adventures: Story drama camp with movement, music and imaginative play for preschoolers
❖ Spring Break Camp | Stage Explorers | Cue to Cue: Performance camps for elementary aged children with a final production
❖ Young Performers Institute | Musical Theatre Skills Intensive | Scene & Heard: Theatre training camps for middle and high school students with acting, singing, dancing, stage combat, puppetry, film-making, Shakespeare, improv and other courses
❖ Summer Showtime!: A fully staged Broadway Jr. production with professional lights, sound, costumes, props and set

Selecting, preparing for, and completing the performance season for a high school theatre department.

Co-directing the Festival Young Company for the Richmond Shakespeare Festival at Agecroft Hall where young artists are guided through the process of developing a Shakespeare monologue before crafting an ensemble public “Green Show” performance to take place before professional shows.

Additionally, Kuykendall has expertise cultivating and maintaining partnerships such with organizations such as: VMFA, Kennedy Center, RPAA, RPS, HCPS, CCPS, CCPL, RPL, HCPL, VCU, Cadence, etc., through active collaboration and program development.

For further information on Irene Kuykendall’s program development offerings, please visit IJK Arts & Education at: ijkartseducation.com (Currently under construction)

Classroom Instruction

Classroom Instruction Credits

Irene Kuykendall’s recent classroom instruction experience includes…

Serving Chesterfield County Public Schools at Midlothian High School as a full-time Theatre Performance and Theatre Production Teacher, while also directing the school plays such as CLUE and MEAN GIRLS.

Teaching at the collegiate level for Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Performing Arts for the Effective Speech course and the Oral Communication & Presentation course, as well as for the School of Business for the Winning Presentations class. Prof. Kuykendall has also taught at Brightpoint Community College for Public Speaking and Theatre Aesthetics in the Division of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

As a trained Wolf Trap, Disney Musicals in Schools, Early Literacy Learning Through the Arts, and Independent Teaching Artist, Irene Kuykendall has classroom instruction experience with a wide range of ages, including: