Schools & Youth

We’re passionate about collaborating with art and music educators to broaden students’ exposure to diverse art forms. Our programs align with Minnesota arts standards in dance, media arts, music, theater, and visual arts, offering experiences that transcend the ordinary.

Through our programs, students not only learn professional techniques but also collaborate directly with practicing artists to create original works of art.

We work with each school to understand its artistic, social, and language arts goals and help them select a COMPAS poet, non-fiction writer, storyteller, memoirist, playwright, or other writer who will inspire and motivate students as they meet those goals. Selected student pieces from our literary and communications programs are published each year in the COMPAS Young Writers Anthology. View a sample of literary programs (PDF).

Middle and high school students unleash the power of their ideas and voices through our spoken word and hip-hop programs. They dive into language analysis, challenge stereotypes, and explore social themes, mastering concise and rhythmic storytelling.

Curious about spoken word? Watch a student’s captivating performance in this 2-minute video.

When you collaborate with COMPAS, you bring award-winning experiences customized to your students’ needs directly into your classroom. Access Yes! works with students with IEPs in center-based classrooms and/or center-based schools. Artists are experienced in working with students with physical and cognitive disabilities and differences and students with autism spectrum disorders, persistent mental health issues, as well as emotional behavioral disorders.

Access Yes! residencies entail a planning meeting, student observation, and 5+ residency sessions culminating in a sharing of student work.

Check out Rising Stars, a video made in collaboration with students at Minnesota State Academy for the Blind. Want to discuss your vision for arts programming for your students? Get in touch with us today!

Immerse students in the rich tapestry of cultures from around the globe. COMPAS artists breathe life into diverse traditions, offering experiences like African drumming, music from Ecuador, Northern Indian dances, Aztec performances, SAORI weaving, and music from Algeria, Egypt, Hawaii, Morocco, and Tunisia, just to name a few.

Our roster of artists contains bilingual speakers fluent or practiced in Spanish or French. These artists can be found using our artist directory page.

COMPAS supports teachers with professional development, recognizing their crucial role in shaping the future. Our Teaching Artists collaborate with educators to seamlessly integrate arts activities into the curriculum. Through personalized feedback and skill-building sessions, we empower educators to infuse creativity into teaching. Explore our workshops today.

Boost student success with COMPAS professional development programs

Our COMPAS Teaching Artists, experts in artistry and education, offer tailored workshops and coaching sessions to equip educators for excellence.

Find a professional development workshop that’s right for your team

COMPAS Teaching Artists can lead partial- or full-day workshops during your professional development session. Enhance intercultural competency, integrate creativity into your curriculum, incorporate creative writing across disciplines, engage students with active learning, and more!

Work with a Teaching Artist coach

COMPAS Teaching Artists partner with teachers for a semester or school year to integrate arts activities into units and lesson plans, meeting academic and arts standards simultaneously. Receive regular meetings and personalized feedback, and practice new skills to integrate the arts into your curriculum.

Work with any of these Teaching Artists to build your professional skills and bring success to your students!

Creative Classroom workshops offer students the chance to complete a stand-alone project, experience and try out the basic building blocks of an art form through an exposure session.

Workshops typically last 45-60 minutes; a minimum of two back to back is preferred. Class sizes are no more than 30 students.

Creative Classroom residencies provide in-depth opportunities for students to learn about an art form, build a mastery of skills in that art form, understand the cultural, historical, personal contexts, and then present new creative work. All residencies align with classroom goals and standards.

All residencies begin with teacher and artist co-planning. Together we modify/ adjust programs to complement and enrich existing curriculum and/or to meet specific goals or learning standards. Then the residency begins! Residencies can last for one week, or a series of weeks. The standard residency includes 20 sessions with an artist–four sessions per day for five days. Each day the artist works with the same four groups of students. Each day’s lesson builds on the one before and works towards a showcase of student work at the end of the week.

Residencies include family guides for the students to take home including vocab, resources, and artist bios. Sessions last for 45-60 minutes. Class sizes are no more than 30 students.

While this standard residency works for many schools, it doesn’t work for all. We are happy to customize!

Virtual Residencies

Connect, collaborate, and create remotely with our flexible options designed to bridge the gap in distance learning.

Foster student creativity at home with COMPAS Teaching Artists through online residencies. Mix live digital meetings with pre-recorded videos for flexible learning. Options include personalized feedback and individual art kits. Access videos for one month.

Explore some of our virtual residencies

• Garden Sculptures with Anne McFaul Reid
• Spoken Word Poetry with Frank Sentwali
• Peace Poetry with Marie Olofsdotter
• Rhythm and Drumming with Mike Arturi
• Talking Suitcases with Susan Armington

Creative Classroom performances engage a larger group with a balance of performance, demonstration and interaction. COMPAS Teaching Artists come from around the world and are excited to share their cultures, art forms, and/or personal stories. Length is typically 45-60 minutes. Some performances also have companion workshops. Performances are for groups of up to 300 audience members.

Explore seed art, mini-movies, collage, watercolor, drawing, poetry, sewing, and more! Each kit includes step-by-step instructions, supplies, and prompts for further exploration. Use them as stand-alone activities or pair them with in-person or virtual programming.

Examples of Art Kits Include

• Paper Design Collage by Teresa Cox
• Seed Art by Anne McFaul Reid
• Poetry Workbook by May Lee Vang
• Surreal Collage by Katrina Knutson
• Hand Sewing Projects by Sarah Nassif
• Mandala Design by Shakun Maheshwari
• Mini (Low-Tech) Movies by Kelley Meister

Created by COMPAS Teaching Artists, PRISM Arts lesson plans highlight African American, African, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian, and Asian American artists and artworks. New lessons are added periodically to our library. To access lesson plans that are currently available, click on the images below.

Sign up for the COMPAS Educator Newsletter to be alerted when new lesson plans are available. For more information about hosting a PRISM residency at your school or working with a COMPAS Teaching Artist, contact us or book a program now.

The Emerging Young Artists program is available to young visual artists in the Saint Paul metro region. It provides young artists with valuable guidance from professional artists in the form of a gallery show opportunity and/or an artist residency focusing on visual arts experiences that are outside the normal visual arts curriculum. Learn more.

Every year, COMPAS showcases young writers from every writing residency. With 43 editions under our belt, we’re eager to witness the latest contributions from today’s youth, adding to the collective tapestry of Minnesota’s young voices. Learn more.