Photo of Kathie DiStefano's interactive 'Seagull Mama' Performance at Enoch Pratt Library in a previous year

Workshops for kids about trash — available in Baltimore/Maryland in Fall 2022 (and spring 2023)

arts, education, trash

Theatre artist & educator Kathie diStefano, leader of Rotterdam’s Avalanche Arts, designs and coordinates creative educational activities for kids in Baltimore & Rotterdam to make them aware of trash pollution and how they can help solve it. Kathie diStefano visits Baltimore every year to hold interactive workshops and performances for kids about trash, recycling, and environmental stewardship.

From late October to early November 2022, diStefano is visiting Baltimore from Rotterdam, and we invite schools, community centers, and other venues in Maryland to host a performance by her.  Contact Kathie diStefano if you are interested in hosting a performance or meeting with her in fall 2022, or when she returns to Baltimore in spring 2023.

Offerings include:

Continue reading →

Baltimore-Rotterdam virtual exchange program 2022: Operation Trash / Operatie Afval

education, trash

A social cultural program linking American & Dutch students

Students in Baltimore and Rotterdam doing community cleanupsTrash serves as the theme for a cross-cultural Sister City virtual exchange between schools in Baltimore (USA) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). Students research trash topics and recycling strategies and make presentations to share with their counterparts overseas. They are inspired to reduce litter and increase recycling in their communities while learning about each other’s cultures. Several editions of the exchange program have been held over the past years between schools in the Baltimore and Rotterdam regions.

The Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC) is planning an edition of this exchange program during the 2022 spring semester for Baltimore and Rotterdam area schools. The program is designed for middle school students, grades 7 or 8, referred to as ‘1st and 2nd year classes’ in Dutch high schools. This edition of the exchange takes place February to April, 2022.

Continue reading →

Seagull Mamma Performance at Pratt Library Nov 6, 2019

arts, education, trash

Seagull Mamma: A Performance Piece about Trash and Recycling by Kathie diStefano

About this event

Seagull Mama — A Performance Piece about Trash and Recycling

Performed by theatre artist & educator Kathie diStefano from Rotterdam’s Avalanche Arts.

This interactive show takes young audience members on a journey through the eyes of a seagull mamma who mistakes trash for fish while hunting for food for her young. How do our waterways get so polluted with plastic trash? The term ‘plastic soup’ is introduced; lakes, rivers, and seas that have so much plastic trash that no fish can live there.

Continue reading →

Performances about trash available from Young Audiences

Uncategorized

Seagull Mamma: A Performance Piece about Trash and Recycling by Kathie diStefanoKathie diStefano from Rotterdam’s Avalanche Arts (Stichting Lawine) is now part of the artist roster at Young Audiences Arts for Learning, Maryland!

Maryland public schools can sign up on the Young Audiences website to schedule the “Seagull Mama” performance this semester or in the future, for kids in kindergarten through grade 2. Young Audiences can provide subsidies to reduce the cost of the performance.

This interactive show takes young audience members on a journey through the eyes of a seagull mamma who mistakes trash for fish while hunting for food for her young. How do our waterways get so polluted with plastic trash? The term ‘plastic soup’ is introduced; lakes, rivers, and seas that have so much plastic trash that no fish can live there. This presentation also uses physical theatre techniques to provide comic relief. Learning through laughter is Ms. Kathie’s favorite way of introducing theatre to young audience members while sharing important social messages. In the show finale, Ms. Kathie teaches the audience a Dutch song from the country she immigrated to 35 years ago.

Continue reading →

Baltimore-Rotterdam Operation Trash / Operatie Afval 2017-2018 Offerings

Uncategorized

Arts educational programs about trash, recycling, and environmental stewardship

Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee supports educational activities for kids in Baltimore & Rotterdam to make them aware of trash pollution and how they can help solve it. The activities are designed & coordinated by Kathie diStefano from Rotterdam-based Avalanche Arts (Stichting Lawine).

diStefano in classroomsLeft: Avalanche Arts’ Kathie diStefano teaching an “Operation Trash” workshop in a Rotterdam school. Right: Kathie diStefano conducting an environmentally-themed workshop at a school in Baltimore.

Continue reading →

GBB sponsors Operation Trash educational program – Spring 2018

Uncategorized

Baltimore, MD USA — May 2018

GBB (Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.)  has become a corporate sponsor of the videography portion of the Spring 2018 edition of the Baltimore-Rotterdam “Operation Trash” exchange program — a virtual exchange program that teaches sustainability, trash reduction and recycling concepts. The participating schools in Spring 2018 are Lakeland middle school in Baltimore and Het Balkon school in Maassluis, west of Rotterdam. The financial sponsorship helps cover the costs for the students at Lakeland to get guidance in creating videos to share with their counterparts across the ocean.
More info about the Spring 2018 program

GBB (Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.)
gbbinc.com