The Creative Brain Sheds Light on the Creative Process and its Impact on Society

Burlingtonians watching documentaries on Netflix are in for a treat. The Creative Brain, which was added to the video-streaming service earlier this month, explores creativity and encourages everyone to be more creative. Burlington School District’s Integrated Arts Academy and its model of education are highlighted in the movie, positing that if creativity has proven outcomes, incorporating it into our system of education can develop a more creative, healthy, and thriving community.

“It was a very fulfilling experience talking about the work we do daily at IAA in this way,” said IAA Principal Bobby Riley, who was interviewed for the documentary.

“Creativity is an amazing thing, it empowers children to learn and our world to evolve,” said  Fourth Grade teacher Aurie Thibault who both sat down for an interview and allowed his class to be filmed in the documentary. “I am blessed to get the opportunity to teach through an artistic and creative lens every day, have a job I love, and work with so many amazing children and educators at the IAA. The Creative Brain captured all the things I love about my job and teaching through the arts.”

IAA was chosen to be in the documentary as a result of working neuroscientist Dr. David Eagleman and composer Anthony Brandt in 2017 when they were co-authoring a book, The Runaway Species. Brandt had learned about IAA in 2015 after reading a Mindshift article.

“He reached out and gave us a call and Judy Klima, our Arts Integration Coach, and I spoke with him. They ended up including three pages on IAA in the book. Then in 2016, the BBC and Blink Films got in touch with us about filming for a documentary based on the book and they came and shot the footage in the fall of 2017.”

Riley noted that since the release, people from 14 countries and from many parts of the United States have reached out to inquire about the work being done at IAA and to learn more about the arts integration model.

The Creative Brain will be shown at BHS on May 30th at 6:00 PM as part of IAA’s Ten Year Magnet Celebration and Partner Thank You event. It is also available now on Netflix. For more information on the movie, visit https://creativebrainmovie.com/.

Please join the District Equity and Access Leadership Team (DEALT) for a Community Health and Wellness Fair at BHS on Tuesday, April 16th from 5-8 pm. All are welcome!

Nearly 50 health and wellness organizations in the greater Burlington area will be in attendance with information on health topics, community resources, games, activities, and prizes. Several brief presentations will be available for those who are interested in learning more about maintaining healthy lifestyles and supporting those of family, friends, and partners.

A free community meal will be provided for all attendees with vegetarian and gluten-free options available.

Please join us in partnership with our community health and wellness organizations in supporting a healthy community!

Confirmed Speakers:

BSD Staff and Administration

Burlington City Arts

Howard Center School Services

Laura Ellis

Opiate Policy Coordinator

Confirmed Exhibitors (More coming every day!): 

Save the date and plan to join us!

Continuing the spirit of inclusive curriculum, and recognizing that Black History does not end when March begins, BSD’s Diversity, Equity, and Access Leadership Team is proud to announce our 2nd Annual Beyond Black History Month will take place on March 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at BHS. This inclusive, District-wide event once again aims to continue – not conclude – the community’s momentum in expanding dialogues, shifting perspectives, and boldly addressing present-day injustices.

Join our students and staff for an evening of conversation, education, and reflection, featuring student-led discussions, performances, and presentations. Community partners will be on hand to offer resources related to diversity, inclusion, and community.

Childcare and dinner will be provided, more details to come. JOIN US!

Learn more or RSVP on our Facebook page.

District to work with staff and community on next steps. 

Find all survey results here.

In 2017, Burlington School District (BSD) embarked on a community-led strategic plan planning process. Part of that work revealed the need to conduct a District-wide Climate Survey to better understand how the district and individual schools engage with students, families, and staff. BSD spent the spring of 2018 conducting climate surveys, with more than 2,000 staff, students, and parents participating. The results of the survey, available on the District’s website, point to areas of strength and areas where growth is needed. http://www.bsdvt.org/climate-survey/

Superintendent Obeng noted that the District is in the process of presenting the data to each school, leaders throughout the district, the school board, central office, parents and the community. After each group has a chance to analyze and reflect on the information, the District will begin working together with stakeholders to set aspirational goals for improving the District’s learning and working environments.

“Acknowledging the data is the first step in building environmental coherence, and now that we have this quantitative data, we are working hard combine it with what we know from our qualitative efforts, and to dissect and learn from it,” said Superintendent Yaw Obeng. The Superintendent noted that the full reports for the District and each school are available on the website and that each report has a significant amount of information.

“It’s going to take some time to unpack all of the data, but on the surface, we are seeing that a few things are obvious. For example, the data suggests staff and parents believe that differences are respected in our district. This is very important to us because of the diversity we have and our desire to address the inequities of our district. Understanding and valuing one another’s differences helps us to improve student learning. However, parents and teachers seem to agree that the district has not been equitable in how it distributes resources across the district, and many do not believe the district feels like a positive community.”

Obeng noted that central office has already begun to support some restorative work currently underway on the District level. “As a result of our preliminary review, the leadership team has been working to incorporate a theme of building healthy relationships into the 2018-19 school year, starting with a districtwide in-service day focused on building healthy relationships among staff on August 24th. In addition, the entire year’s districtwide professional development opportunities have been dedicated to Restorative Practices.”

Obeng also noted that the District is taking a deeper look at why stakeholders feel resources are not allocated in an equitable fashion. “This is important for us to understand, especially as we enter this year’s budget process. I know we did a better job this year than in the past of holding public input sessions and trying to spread the word, particularly to sectors of our community that have gone unreached in the past. We are considering these improvements and trying to make our outreach even better going forward.”

Obeng encouraged stakeholders to review the data and begin thinking about and identifying ways to help improve BSD’s climate and culture. The District is planning to make an official presentation to the board at the November board meeting.

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Burlington School District (BSD) is a pre-k-12 public school system of about 4,000 students in Burlington, VT. BSD’s mission is to graduate students who: value different cultures, engage with the community, communicate effectively, think creatively, skillfully solve problems, and achieve at their highest academic, intellectual, and personal potential.