Deborah “Spice” Kleinmann, Arts Integration Educator & Performing Artist
About Deborah “Spice” Kleinmann
I started working with Wolf Trap in 2006 and have worked for 6 years conducting Arts Integration Education Residencies in Baltimore, Takoma Park, and Silver Spring, Maryland. While working with the children on Pre School curriculum, I mentor the teachers and help them feel more comfortable utilizing the Arts to teach their lessons in the classroom. I primarily teach music and drama and am also the Music teacher at Downtown Baltimore Childcare Center where I have worked for more than 10 years.
I have recently been trained by the Teaching Artist Institute (TAI) in Baltimore, MD in Arts Integration Education for elementary through high school grades. Residencies with classroom teachers are available through this program. My educational background is a degree in Biology Education and Natural Resource Management from University of Maryland. One of my favorite residencies focuses on environmental themes and the earth when teaching literacy through the arts and I have many songs that enhance this program.
I receive annual grants from the Maryland State Arts Council to perform auditorium shows in schools in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area. For these shows I have created some musical performances for young children that include themes on the natural environment, African American history, and peace & justice. For the past 3 years I have sung at more than 15 libraries in Baltimore County for their story times. I also taught a class for infants to toddlers and the Charm City Kids Club. I served in the Peace Corps writing environmental education curriculum and taught the children through the arts. I have been involved with Farm and Wilderness Camps in Vermont since 1987, leading singing activities for six camps as well as running waterfronts. I was involved with the Environmental Education Boat called the Clearwater that was Pete Seeger’s brainchild and spent 10 years sailing and singing on the Hudson River. (See my tribute to Pete Seeger here.) I credit my mother and father for my musical abilities and give thanks every day for my gifts.
Interested in learning more about Spice?
