Dylaya (Dee) Butler-Simms and Mark Wong
Beatmaking and digital music creation in your learning space
This professional development session introduces K-8 educators to Beatmaking as a method or activity to bolster existing arts curricula in multiple learning spaces. In this session we will explore various simple browser-based music-making tools, including Soundtrap, the digital audio software our #PhillyBeatz after-school residency program utilizes to empower 6th graders. Participants will learn how to:
Create and complete original beats
Collaborate digitally with each other
Utilize free #PhillyBeatz programming for their 6th graders
Participants will receive a free one-year subscription to Soundtrap as a teaching tool.
Dylaya (Dee) Butler-Simms
Dylaya Butler-Simms is the Education Program Manager at the Kimmel Cultural Campus. She is a musician, artist and entrepreneur with a passion for education, social justice and impact. After attending The Art Institute of Philadelphia where she received her bachelor’s degree in fashion design, Dylaya discovered the joy of teaching youth as an afterschool arts volunteer. Dylaya had an extensive arts administration career as Director of several arts organizations in the city of Philadelphia providing arts education, programming, and service to at risk youth, those suffering from homelessness and adults with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities. Her greatest accomplishment is the daily ability to utilize music, art and fashion to impact change, connect people with the knowledge that their humanity is tied to another person’s humanity.
Mark Wong
As an educator, Mark matriculated from the pilot cohort of UArts’ Teaching Artist Certificate 2-year program. He then co-founded the award-winning educational ensemble Hip Hop Fundamentals, a group of Philadelphia-based teaching artists dedicated to empowering youth through Breaking. With HHF, Mark has served hundreds of schools and community sites, providing workshops, performances, and arts-integrated residencies for students, primarily in the Tri-State area and California. He now works with the Kimmel Cultural Campus as the Education Program Coordinator to deliver free arts programming to Philadelphia area youth. He will always chase the unique spirit of fun, freedom, and creativity that only teaching art and dance can give.