The Second City

The Second City Instructors Nick Johne and Jeff Poole visited Mercy Academy on Wednesday, November 14, 2019 for a workshop with 10 teens with autism, neuro-typical teens, and partner program leads. The workshop was designed specifically for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The event focused on ensemble and team building to help with the exploration of different relationships and social cues. Improvisational games used in this class taught participants skills such as accessing emotions and storytelling. The workshop was organized in partnership between Kentucky Performing Arts' (KPA) ArtsInspire and ArtsAccessibility teams, the Kentucky Autism Training Center, University of Louisville Autism Center and Mercy Academy.

The Second City also visited Lincoln Performing Arts School for a teacher professional development workshop with 10 Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) teachers representing elementary, middle and high school grade levels and schools district-wide. The 3-hour workshop explored the fundamentals of improvisation through interactive comedy improv exercises and allowed the educators to discover how the principal concepts of improvisational learning can be integrated into the curriculum of any subject area.The workshop was organized in partnership between KPA's ArtsInspire and ArtsRise teams, JCPS' Professional Development team and the Lincoln Performing Arts School.

Friday, November 15, 2019 The Second City went to Jefferson County Technical College (JCTC) for a workshop with 14 faculty and staff members representing various JCTC campus locations. The workshop was designed specifically for teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This interactive workshop offers those working in higher education an introduction to the principles of improvisation as well as offering a variety of methods for integrating improvisational exercises in the classroom across curriculum and in working with students. The workshop was organized in partnership between KPA ArtsInspire and JCTC Humanities Division and Professional Development teams.

A few of our volunteer ushers also participated in a workshop at the Kentucky Center's Mex Theater. The workshop created an experiential, immersive laboratory designed to expand the team's capacity for cooperation, build openness to new ideas, active listening, and raising confidence in solving challenges- all very helpful skills when interacting with Kentucky Center audiences! The workshop was organized in partnership between KPA's ArtsInspire and Patron Services teams.