Your gift makes this work possible. Thank you for being part of a community that believes in inclusive, arts-based learning. We can’t do it without you.
VTS has trained tens of thousands of educators in over 35 states and more than 25 countries in evidence-based, inclusive practices. Museums all over the world sound with voices discussing what’s going on in their artworks. From pre-K to medical school, VTS is building proven skills in critical thinking, reasoning, observation, written and spoken language, engagement, empathy, cooperative learning, respectful disagreement and more. Grounded in research about learning, we empower educators, to support all their learners, especially the struggling ones. Our commitment to underserved communities and expanding accessible education means we have to ask for your help. VTS has long relied solely on you –on your testimony– to bring us work, to refer friends and colleagues to us, and to help us financially.
VTS would like to use your donation right now in one of the following areas:
- This website: vtshome.org needs an upgrade. Over 600 educators use this website daily –it is the image resource for the over 8,000 educators using Visual Thinking Strategies in their classrooms and galleries. We want to provide more images, and share more research, and add resources.
- VTS Trainer Fellowship: VTS trainers that represent the diverse and unique communities in which we work, make the work stronger. So we created a Fellowship, a paid on-the-job training for outstanding VTS facilitators, particularly from BIPOC, Queer, and underrepresented backgrounds in education. Fellows receive dedicated mentorship, as they work alongside senior trainers, and make our programs, and our field, better.
- Public School Teacher Professional Development: VTS is regularly asked for more teacher training than we can afford to give at cost. We particularly want to be able to offer evidence-based professional development to Public School teachers in the many under-resourced districts where we work. These teachers need all of our support.
- VTS Look Club Online: We partner with a Museum every third Wednesday to offer 2 image discussions for our community. These discussions began April 2020, with the pandemic, and since then we have hosted over 250 image discussions, for over 5,000 individuals across the globe. This Zoom event is for anyone to join and discuss art, and for VTS-trained members and Fellows to practice their facilitation skills. We are always asked to host more.
Have questions? Want more information?
Please call us at 415-868-0970 or email erin@commonweal.org
Checks can be sent to:
VTS c/o Commonweal
P.O. Box 316 Bolinas, CA 94924