My Arts Admin Week: Lucia Scheckner, Education Director at BAX | Brooklyn Arts Exchange
Sunday, February 5-Friday, February 10, 2017
January 2017 marked my four-year anniversary as BAX’s Education Director. As I enter my fifth year, the different rhythm of each season making up the year becomes habitual. I’m also struck by what does not change from year-to-year, that is, by what makes BAX unique and a home to so many artists-in-progress of all ages. As our Founding and Executive Director Marya Marshaw recently wrote in her monthly newsletter, “Everything we do, and hopefully all the ways we do it, keep FRONT AND CENTER justice for ALL.” In the face of a deeply problematic American political landscape, we reflect and recommit to our mission of championing diversity, inclusion and equity more urgently than ever.
BAX is a year-round nonprofit organization that celebrated its 25-year anniversary in 2016. We are an incubator space for performing artists who create original work and equally an educational venue for young artists ages 1-18 to learn technical skills in dance, theater, and tumbling while also learning to take creative risks and building their authentic voice through improvisation and original composition. As Education Director, I am responsible for 45 studio classes that take place six days a week throughout the school year as well as producing two annual teen festivals. Additionally, I oversee our School Breaks Arts Programming and half a dozen BAX public school residencies. We serve approximately 2500 students a year and work with 23 talented teaching artists and dozens of seasonal staff, ranging from high school aged to professional. I’m regularly hiring faculty, seasonal, and part-time staff to keep our services running smoothly throughout the year. At the same time, we have an extraordinary retention rate with our teaching artists, a number of whom have taught at BAX for 10+ years.
In the winter/spring season, we are in high gear preparing for our school breaks programs and our teen arts conference. We are also settling into our spring semester and starting a number of new public school residencies. I couldn’t do what I do without the support of an incredible education team: our Education Manager, Casey Hayes Deats, School Breaks Director Andrew Jannetti, Education Assistant Nadia Hannan and our interns Veronika Cohen and Rachel Freeburg who are on the frontlines interfacing with our children, families, and teachers regularly. Our programming is activated by our diverse and talented faculty, which includes a senior teaching artist, Donna Costello. In addition to teaching, Donna is the Education Programs Consultant and Lead Facilitator. She helps to organize our professional development efforts from big visioning to the minutiae of facilitating meetings. These folks are the eyes, ears, hands, feet, hips, heart and soul of all that we do as an education department. I see my role as holding this whole ecosystem together. I ensure that the ideal BAX people (teachers, students, families), programs and philosophies connect with each other and also have room to grow. I also bridge this work to school, community and cultural partners.
Sunday, February 5
I’ve already woken up at least twice in the middle of the night (typically around 12am and 3am) by my toddler, Lennon, who at two years old is learning to sleep in a “big kid bed.” I’m very sleep deprived.
6:00am
Up for the day.
I often have weekend or evening work — whether it’s a BAX performance, festival, family event, etc. This particular Sunday, I’m attending BAX’s annual Artist Services Day, which is a free day filled with topical workshops, discussions and performances for working artists and arts educators.
6:00-8:30am
I make breakfast for my family, and we spend some quality time together before I leave for the day. We read books and listen to music. My son likes to dance to Raffi’s “Down by the Bay.”
I leave at least an hour to get to BAX, which is in Park Slope, Brooklyn from my apartment, which is on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Weekend commutes are particularly rough because there is always service work. I often leave 1.5 hours to be safe. While long, my commute is an especially productive time. I tend to spend it organizing my weekly work task list and calendar, or reading applications, marketing proofs or professional development materials.
10am
Arrive at BAX, help set up for the Artist Services Day event. A lot is already organized. It’s a nice chance to chat with colleagues and enjoy the “calm before the storm.” As people arrive, it’s exciting to see returning and new faces and hear what brings them to the event.
11:30am
I attend a workshop on “talking to children about race (and more)” facilitated by Jen Abrams, Sarita Covington, Chanon Judson, Nia Love, and Maya Visco. BAX and the Education department in particular have been doing a lot of work over the past two years to bring a greater racial equity lens to all that we do – from administrative policies, to professional development teaching practices and curriculum, to examining demographics served and outreach strategies. The workshop leaves me with a lot to think about. I also think about my son who is rapidly developing his communication skills and drawing inferences about the world.
1:15pm-2:30pm
I prepare to co-facilitate a panel discussion on the intersection between teaching artists and generative artists. We will explore the ways these two roles can be enriching and at times tenuous as well as identify the kinds of cultural, educational, and community-based organizations that help teaching artists establish a fluid and sustainable relationship between these two roles. My co-facilitator is Donna Costello. We meet with our guest panelists while setting up the room in the round. We want to make sure our structure is nonhierarchical. Our panelists are Eric Aviles, Maira Duarte, José Joaquín García, Naomi Goldberg Haas, Nia Love, and jill sigman. They represent a wealth of diversity as well as range of teaching artists and professional artists at different stages of their careers. About 20 people join our discussion. The stories vary and are inspiring. Of course, it feels too short.
300-4:15pm
Donna and I wrap up and decide to take advantage of this unique overlapping time and get a coffee. We exchange insights from our day that might translate well in our spring faculty Professional Development meeting. We plan to organize the agenda, in part, around different models for encouraging reflection and self-assessment. We consider one idea a panelist shared about teaching artists writing their own mission statement and considering how this statement aligns (or doesn’t) with the cultural organization(s) for whom they work.
4:15pm
I head back uptown by subway and go straight to my parents’ apartment. They live a few blocks away from us. We all have a taco dinner together which is a welcome break for both my husband, Rob, and I from cooking/cleaning. I talk about our panel, which gives me more opportunity to articulate the valuable parts of discussion, including those I might bring to our faculty in the spring meeting.
6:30-7:30pm
Home, toddler bath and bedtime.
8pm
Do a little bit of BAX work, emailing and prep for the week. I didn’t get to do any grocery/laundry chores.
9pm
Relax in bed and watch some Netflix with Rob, while we both half read and bemoan the news on our phones. We fall asleep by 9:30pm which is typical.
Monday, February 6
5:45am
Woken up.
6am
Morning routine with the family.
8:15am
Usually, Rob drops our son off Monday mornings and I do pick up, but he has to leave for school early today (he’s a philosophy professor for College of Staten Island, CUNY) to attend a committee meeting. I drop my son off at daycare. I’m organizing a book drive for them, and I get a chance to connect with the director about some final logistics.
8:30am-9:50am
Waiting for the subway. There are delays. I finally get on a jam-packed car. At the next stop a man starts yelling at a woman to move in. There’s nowhere to go. Another men steps in to defend her. They’re near blows. This is not atypical, especially Monday mornings. At the Brooklyn station, where I switch subway lines, a man is passed out of the platform. Medics and police come to his aide. It’s a sad scene. More delays. I’m late for work and already ready for a nap! Throughout my subway ride, I review and reply to emails, including an email from Marya proposing the staff meet briefly to debrief on Artist Services Day.
10am
Finally arrive to BAX. Get on email and log into our database to look at registration.
10:30am
Meet with staff to hear about others’ Artist Services Day experience. There’s a lot of rich programming to unpack.
11am
Touch base with BAX Education Manager, Casey, about our task list for the week. In particular, this week we need to prepare for our School Breaks Arts Program, which is the week of mid-winter recess/President’s Week, beginning February 20th. This upcoming Sunday, 2/12, the program staff will have their first training meeting. This means that the training guide, program schedules, “how to” lists, contact lists, as well as HR paperwork needs to be organized and ready for Andrew, the school breaks director, by Friday. I also review guest artist lesson plans and ask our Education Intern, Veronika, to organize a supply list as well as review our existing inventory. Casey and I also discuss where we are with organizing our Teen Arts Conference, which is coming up on March 11. This is one of our two major festivals and involves coordinating logistics with nine teen performing arts groups as well as dozens of guest artist facilitators. The day includes a culminating performance gala as well with all the teen groups. We’re still waiting for tech information to come in which we need to provide to our technical director. One group is still waiting to confirm they can participate at all. I need to make some calls to follow up!
12pm
I address any questions from the weekend – Every Saturday I get a report from Nadia that outlines absences, issues with families or teachers/classes and any financial aid requests that need additional consideration. I touch base with our Community Outreach Intern, Rachel, about visiting some of our school partners over the next couple of weeks to film our classes, take photos, and also create a photo wall with accompanying signage for one school’s bulletin board that will showcase our residency at the school. BAX serves about 1500 students through our public school residencies. We agree she will go to a school in Sunset Park as well as a school in Windsor terrace, both Brooklyn neighborhoods.
12:30pm-3pm
I continue following up on Teen Arts Conference business and School Breaks prep work. We have an outstanding payment due from a school, and there are various miscellaneous partnership logistics to get through. I write a thank you note to the panelists who participated in Artist Services Day. Usually around 2pm I realize I haven’t eaten and will prepare the lunch I’ve brought (staple is chicken salad, apple, and a few slices of cheese). This Monday since I didn’t get groceries over the weekend, I buy lunch. While eating, I review our class and school breaks registration and think about strategies our department and the marketing department can make to bolster our numbers. BAX Teen Arts Learners and Leaders (TALL) Council is planning a daylong workshop and performance event, Sped Up, a creative day for young artists 15+to process the current political climate. I talk with Veronika our Education intern and also the TALL coordinator about their outreach flyer and plans to create a Facebook event. We strategize outreach opportunities, and she plans to consult with the marketing department for any required signage language since the event will happen in the BAX Theater.
3pm-4:30pm
Students start to arrive at BAX for classes. This is an important time to touch base with BAX faculty and families. A teacher stops by and has a question about how to address a gender identity issue with a youth. We strategize. Another teacher describes having low attendance during family observation week. I touch base with another teacher who has agreed to let a BAX student serve her high school community service hours helping out her class. I loop back to the interns to see how their work is developing. I am not in the office on Tuesdays so this is our last chance to touch base in person until Wednesday.
4:30pm
I jet out the door to head uptown. I have to pick up my son by 5:30pm. (I can be as late as 5:45pm, but after that the day care starts to close!)
5:40pm
Pick up Lennon. Race home. I have a parent/teacher meeting at his daycare in less than an hour! Rob teaches late. My mom comes over to put Lennon to bed so I can attend. I scarf down dinner.
6:30-8pm
Toddler Room parent/teacher meeting. It’s a welcome comic relief to be around other parents dealing with the same funny and strange toddler issues.
8:30-9pm
I get home and Rob too has recently arrived. We catch up and are in bed by 9:30pm. Lennon coughs throughout the night. Lots of waking up.
Tuesday, February 7
7am
Remarkably, we get to sleep in. We had a very poor night’s rest (up from about 2am-4am!). Tuesdays are my day home with my son. I scramble to follow up on any loose-end emails while Rob is still around.
9am
I call the doctor to make a sick appointment. We get one for 11am.
11am-12:30pm
Doctor appointment. Lennon may have RSV. We get a nebulizer test. I check email periodically on my phone, responding to straightforward inquires from the front desk, teachers asking about subs, etc.
12:45pm-2pm
Lennon naps. I cram in as many emails as possible. I follow up to confirm my visit to one our public school partners in Carroll Gardens for tomorrow. There have been some issues with the ways the dance/school curriculum integrates. This is a new partnership and it’s especially important that I do an observation to better understand what’s happening, offer support to our teaching artist, and follow up with feedback to our school contact. I also make plans to meet with a new financial aid applicant who is requesting 100% scholarship. I reach out to a teaching artist about a unique teaching opportunity to facilitate a high-energy workshop with a high school group spending the night at BAX. I quickly hear back that she accepts the offer. I email the group to confirm and outline the workshop details.
2pm-7pm
I take care of my son at home. Continue to check email and respond to straightforward emails as much as I can from my phone. Rob gets home around 5:30pm.
7-7:30pm
My son’s especially cranky. Once he’s finally asleep, I catch up on a freelance performing arts project. I’m working on the dramaturgy for an Opera (Nixon in China) that is being produced at the L.A. Philharmonic in March. I owe the director some research notes. I bunker down to finish them up and send them to the director.
8:30pm
Rob and I unwind. We watch a funny SNL skit and go to bed.
Lennon gets up. He has a fever. He sleeps with us.
Wednesday, February 8
6-7am
We all get ready for a typical day, but when I call the daycare to let them know Lennon had a fever last night they tell me he’s not allowed to come until he’s 24-hours clear of the fever. Rob has classes. I write work that I have to stay home and reschedule my school visit and Wednesday meeting with the financial aid family for Friday.
9-10am
My mom comes over so I can do some work. A storm is expected to hit the city that night and they’re expecting anywhere from 6-9 inches of snow. I write Casey and our Managing Director, Vanessa, that we should queue up emails to Thursday classes/families in case the Department of Education (DOE) cancels public schools, in which case we would cancel our BAX classes. I write the faculty with a heads up and a reminder of our inclement weather protocol. Additionally, our long-time school partner, Brooklyn New School, is scheduled to perform the annual 4th grade musical Thursday night. If school is canceled Thursday, however, they’ll reschedule the musical for Friday. BAX teaching artists direct and choreograph this program. Emails go back and forth about this contingency plan. It’s a house of cards. I ask Casey to email me a few documents to work on from home so I can follow up with Teen Arts Conference contacts from whom we’re still waiting on registration material. I make an arrangement to speak to one of the pending group contacts that afternoon by phone to answer questions. There’s an email from marketing to proof a posting, which I review and reply.
11am-12pm
I take Lennon to the park to feed the ducks. He can’t be around other kids but we can’t stay inside all day!
12:30pm
Lunch. Get ready for nap.
12:50-2pm
Lennon sleeps. I get a call from the doctor that his test for RSV is negative. Barring another fever, he can go to day care tomorrow – thank goodness! I get an inquiry about hiring a counselor for our school breaks program. This student is frequently late for BAX classes but is a wonderful student and I’m excited to give him this leadership opportunity. We agree to offer him the position and review the commitments with his family in addition to his contract.
2-5:30pm
Lennon is in much better spirits. I take him to Central Park to play with a ball and climb rocks. I get a call from our contact at the Williamsburg Movement and Arts Center, a relatively new cultural partner. We’re discussing the prospect of their teen dance ensemble participating in the Teen Arts Conference. I’m eager to make this collaboration work. I review some of the conference logistics and trouble-shoot their staffing challenges to be there the full day (the conference is a 9am-9pm commitment!). I also clarify our tech requests. It sounds like it will work out pending family confirmations and we agree to talk later in the week. Good news!
7:30pm
The DOE cancels school early. I send emails to our Thursday classes, teachers and families letting them know BAX classes are cancelled. I also reach out to two schools we work with on Thursdays and those teaching artists to prompt a discussion for scheduling a make up session. I heat up a potpie and get ready to work on my dramaturgy project.
8:30pm
Rob gets home. With the DOE closed tomorrow, Lennon’s day care is also cancelled. Rob will stay home with Lennon. I do some dramaturgy work; reading about Maoist communist theory during the Trump administration is fascintating.
9:30pm
Bedtime!
Thursday, February 9
8am
Leave for BAX. It’s snowing hard but the subways are un-phased. I read through docs and make final edits on our school breaks training guide and Teen Arts Conference informational packets.
9:15am
Arrive at BAX. General review of emails. Reach out to a teaching artist who helps with translations for BAX — translating new financial aid language about our student gender coding and updated anti-discrimination clause so these can be included in the Spanish version of our financial aid application.
10am
I connect with Casey to review various logistics from over the last two days. She’s very much my second pair of eyes/ears! We review the school breaks supply list, program materials as well as snacks, props, cleaning supplies and other items. I review our lists against budget to approve moving forward with purchases.
11am-2pm
Apply edits to documents I took home and ask our Community Outreach intern Rachel to help with some other document updates. We also check back in about organizing signage and images to hang at one of our public schools next week and propose that she go to an additional school Monday (since she couldn’t go today b/c of the snow day) to film our program. We need to print and bring photo/video release forms if we’re going to do this. This documentation will serve archival purposes, program assessment and for future grant reporting. I reach out to the school to discuss these details. I speak over the phone with our School Breaks Director, Andrew, since we won’t be meeting that afternoon because of canceled classes. We review the weekend program staff training plan, list of training materials that need to be organized and any HR paperwork that has to be discussed with staff. We also talk about specialist lesson plans and the best way to conduct their training now that we know who is coming. Our copier is broken so none of the prep materials can be printed. I prep these with Casey’s help to print Friday (she’s out of the office).
2pm
Lunch break. I make lunch and email a friend about organizing a town hall/parent-educator discussion group in response to the Betsy DeVos appointment. We can’t make Friday night’s educator meeting at Bank Street and decide we should host something ourselves to spark local conversation and organizing.
2:30pm-4:30pm
Continue organizing School Breaks materials. Reach out to BAX’s youth dance company (BAXco) director Dante Brown about some upcoming events, including part one of two master classes being offered tomorrow/Friday, Feb. 10 and Feb. 17th with Brother(hood) Dance. We’re trying to spread the word through social media and teaching networks in the hopes that we’ll attract non-BAX students who may be interested in joining the company next year. I respond to a delicate email from a parent who has questions about her daughter’s classes.
4:30pm
Head uptown. Meet Rob and Lennon at home around 5:30pm.
5:30-7:30pm
Family time. Dinner. Son asleep. Check my email, feeling more caught up but tomorrow is a full day.
9pm
Bed. Exhausted.
Friday, February 10
6am-8am
Morning routine. Take Lennon to day care by 8am.
9am-11am
Arrive at BAX. The printer is working! I queue up our School Breaks training and program materials after the Marketing Director, Fernando; he urgently needs to print programs for the Upstart Festival showcase happening in the BAX Theater that night. Fernando and I also talk about Rachel borrowing the video camera Monday for the school visit and about creating an additional marketing push for our school breaks program, creating a backpack mail flyer that can be distributed at our school partners next week. I touch base with our Managing Director about our Department of Education Arts Services Vendor contract renewal. There is a question about the budget. We agree to review later that afternoon.
11:15am-11:35pm
Leave to visit a new partner school. Take subway. While on the train I serendipitously run into a racial equity and social justice consultant from Raceforward who I’ve been emailing back and forth. She worked with BAX and me/education department over the winter through an independent contract and we’re discussing plans for contract renewal to resume this work in the late-winter/early-spring. We agree on eight weekly meetings over the next couple of months. Our goals are to identify ways to enlist the larger faculty cohort in this anti-racist work and to prioritize existing and new programming plans. This all relates to hiring and budgeting for the upcoming 2017/18 year.
11:40am-1pm
Observe one and half classes at our new school partner. Get a greater sense of the school culture, role of the classroom teachers, and the BAX teaching artist’s work. I chat briefly with a classroom teacher and the BAX Teaching Artist. We agree to touch base more in person that afternoon. I am not permitted to take any photos of the program.
1:30pm
Back at BAX. Eat lunch. Receive a message that one of the two master class teachers scheduled for that afternoon is sick. Touch base with Dante, BAXco director, about amending our plan. More Teen Arts Communication has come in and I get a confirmation that the Williamsburg Movement and Arts Center is definitely onboard! I update our tech, program, and planning documents with new information and share with our Technical Director, Emma Rivera. Reach out to a few individual teens that have expressed interest in the festival.
2:00pm
Meet with a new family who has requested a full scholarship to our school breaks program. The mother explains their circumstances and children’s artistic interests. I assure her BAX won’t turn anyone away who needs financial assistance. I talk about the program and review their financial aid application. We talk about the mutual commitment we’re making. They seem like a wonderful family, and I’m excited to welcome them to the BAX community.
2:30pm
Talk with Vanessa about the DOE budgetary questions and make proposal amendments.
3:00pm-5:00pm
Faculty and families start to arrive to BAX. I touch base with admin and teachers doing After School Pick Up (i.e. picking up students from nearby public schools to bring them to BAX). I talk with the Teaching Artist from the residency that I observed earlier in the day and ask questions, get her impressions, and give feedback. I connect with the (now one) guest artist who will be teaching the BAXco Master Class. I see our BAX Theater Company teacher and say hello to some families in the waiting area.
5:30pm
I leave for our school partner, Brooklyn New School, to see the annual 4th grade musical entitled “Reach Out into the Darkness: We are the Light.” I connect with our teaching artists in residence and the school’s Parent Teacher Coordinator who is also a BAX board member and former BAX parent. I sit in on a last rehearsal before they open the audience doors to families. There are about seven 10-year old children singing different parts of Bessie Smith’s Backwater Blues into standing microphones. So powerful.
6:30-8pm
The show is epic: 110 fourth graders singing and dance their hearts out. I am so proud of our teaching artists and the program and all the children involved. As our teaching artist, Jose, always says, “It is pure medicine.” The whole school community, teachers, families and students are glowing after the event. It’s an inspiring way to end a very busy and bumpy the week!
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Related posts:
Blog Series: Becoming an Arts Administrator
Speaking as a Teaching Artist: 50 Perspectives
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Life as a Modern Dancer 
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