Mina Kianovsky ’21 – Global Arts Plus
I participate in Macalester’s off-campus student employment program, working as a teacher’s aide and paraprofessional at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus Elementary. This past year I worked in the drama and dance classroom, alongside Debra Elias, at the lower campus (kindergarten through fourth grade), and during the coming year, I will be moving up to the upper campus (fifth grade through eighth grade) to work in the theatre classroom with Eliza Rasheed.How did you come across Linwood?
I found out about Linwood through the CEC website, and through my friend Miller Shor, whose position I’ll be taking over.
What do you love about working at Linwood?
Linwood has become really important to me because it gives me the opportunity to teach things that I really care about. Having arts in public school is really important to me, and being able to educate young kids about something I care so much about is really amazing– I get to watch them figure out the different ways that they learn best and the things they like and don’t like.
What does a typical day look like at Linwood?
My typical day at Linwood begins around 1 pm when I arrive and sign in before heading upstairs to my classroom. I usually get there in the middle of the kindergarteners’ block in Drama/Dance class, so I’m almost automatically “on” and I jump in to help with whatever is going on in class that day. Kindergarten leaves 15 minutes after I arrive, and there are two-minute intervals between each class. The afternoons at Linwood have me working with Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade. I have to be ready for anything each day because there is no time in between classes to discuss lesson plans or anything like that.
Have you come closer to realizing your dream job by working at Linwood?
I have come closer to realizing my dream job, thanks to Linwood! I’ve always known I loved education and the idea of teaching kids but knew that I didn’t want to work in a traditional classroom setting. After speaking with different Linwood teachers and having my own experiences on the job, I am now hoping to work in education within a museum, doing research and planning curriculum for visiting school groups.
Do you have any advice for other students looking to branch out into the performing arts scene outside of Janet Wallace?
My advice is that there are so many more opportunities for the performing arts than you can imagine. Take a risk in your work– it will pay off. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with Linwood, and I had the opportunity to help with the creation of the fourth-grade opera, which our fourth graders wrote themselves!
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