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Santina Protopapa
EDUCATION
Santina Protopapa has a passion for using the arts to educate.
As executive director of the Progressive Arts Alliance, a program that combines art and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, Protopapa leads the small staff of employees and contractors who works with students in local schools.
The program has grown since it began in 2002 and now serves five schools in Cleveland, one in Garfield Heights and two in Warrensville Heights.
In March, the alliance took a project to share at SXSWedu, inspired by an installation done at Cleveland's Mound STEM School. There, students worked with artists to create an LED light and sculpture installation on clouds. The students had already been learning about both clouds and circuits, and this project combined the two.
How has the program evolved over the years?
Over the years, PAA's programming has evolved by effectively adopting and adapting emergent trends in education. When we launched in 2002, STEM and the Maker Movement were not a part of the education field. As we've grown over the years and deepened our commitment to partnering with schools, we've maintained a niche in teaching and learning that harnesses the current trends in the field. We've accomplished this by operating as an arts-integration lab in which our artists engage in R&D that allows them...