After much consultation and consideration of our future viability, the Board of Directors of Mariposa In The Schools (MITS) has concluded that 2017-18 will be our final year of operations as of our fiscal year-end June 30, 2018. We are truly grateful to have had this opportunity to share our stories, songs and dances with thousands of children, their teachers and families for the last 49 years.
We would like to take this opportunity to also thank our past and present artists, staff and board members, programming and fundraising partners, and service providers along with our many loyal educators and librarians, funders and donors – your generous spirit, love of learning and commitment to arts education has helped us to share our rich and diverse oral traditions with thousands of children and brought much joy to hundreds of school communities across Ontario.
Thank you so very much!
Mariposa In The Schools has been introducing Ontario young people to oral cultural traditions in music, dance, storytelling, spoken word and interdisciplinary experiences grounded in the collective creative expressions of world cultures and reflect our common humanity and experiences, since 1969.
We reach over fifty Ontario school communities annually with our programs that link world cultures and generations and that inspire, challenge perceptions, explore and discover new meaning and understanding of the interconnectedness of all things.
Through our new program streams (Inclusion, Wellbeing, Stewardship & Innovation) we strive to provide programs that more fully support student engagement in the arts and other subject areas to meet the evolving objectives of both – so that the arts are a medium for explanation and transformational thinking as well as the integration of soft skills through allegory found in stories and songs, music, dance and spoken word. Through their participation, students experience the intersecting elements that foster belonging, that inspire taking risks and demonstrate what they are capable of, while also bringing a greater understanding of themselves and of each other.
We have over 30 professional performing artists that are highly skilled arts educators whose work and heritage are uniquely Canadian – blending oral traditions that reflect Canada’s cultural diversity and history including bi-lingual, Francophone and First Nation artists, as well as artists from West African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, European and South East Asian heritage. Our artists look forward to creating learning environments in collaboration with educators that engage children and youth in meaningful creative learning that challenges perceived abilities and racial and cultural stereotypes, as well as inspire all participants to reflect, cooperate and build something that is bigger than themselves.
We value the collaborative nature of our art forms and working culture. Our performances, workshops, residencies are designed to respond to child and classroom needs and support professional development in the arts for the classroom teacher. Your participation is encouraged and most welcome. We also look forward to learning from you!
We are also inspired by the opportunities afforded by interdisciplinary projects and partnerships that encourage in depth exploration of big ideas or topics, within the context of time and place, and relationships to events and to each other. Check out our Ideas page for examples and inspiration!
A number of our programs are offered in French for Core and Immersion students. Program support materials such as study guides, teachers’ notes, sample music and accompanying lyrics are available for most programs.
We are committed to ensuing that our programs remain affordable to all communities and our board of directors and staff dedicate their fundraising efforts to this cause. We are grateful to our loyal individual donors, foundations and corporate supporters and sponsors that contribute to our Equity of Access fund that assists with the cost of travel to all communities, as well as providing direct program subsidy to under-served inner city, rural and First Nations communities across Ontario.