Since 1980, Ann Gengarelly has been a poet-in-the schools throughout Southeastern Vermont and neighboring Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
She is Director of The Poetry Studio at her home in Marlboro, Vermont, where during the past twenty-five years she has offered after-school programs in poetry and art for students from kindergarten to eighth grade. The Studio also runs summer workshops that feature poetry, art, and bookmaking with a focus on the natural world.
Since 2002, Ann has taught studio creative writing classes for adults as well. Gathering together, participants ranging in age from their 20s to 70s create a rich and extraordinary community.
She has had the privilege to teach poetry workshops (2000-2010) on the Navajo Nation at Little Singer Community School in Bird Springs, Arizona. In many ways the indigenous practice of community—the inclusion of young people with elders—has informed the composition of her Studio classes.
Ann’s connection to indigenous ways began when, under the auspices of the American Friends Service Committee, she spent a summer working on the Cherokee Nation in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.
For seven years Ann was a Faculty Associate at Hampshire College where she offered courses such as “Creativity and the Young Child” and “Integrative Seminar: The Creative Process.” She has been a consultant for the Integrated Day Program at the University of Massachusetts. Using poetry as a model, Ann has designed and presented professional development workshops for teachers at Lesley University, Bank Street College, and the Antioch NE Graduate School of Education.
Ann holds an MA degree from Goddard College in creativity and education with an emphasis on poetry-in-the schools. She received an honorary Doctorate for Teaching Excellence from Marlboro College in 1988.
She has published in numerous poetry and professional journals ranging from The Apple Tree Review and Literary Cavalcade (Scholastic Magazine) to The Elementary School Journal (University of Chicago Press).
In a recent conversation with one of her grandchildren, she found herself mentioning that in the past she thought she was going to be a social worker. The child responded: “But you are a social worker; you get people to express their emotions;” these words capturing the essence of Ann’s teaching, whether she is in a high school dormitory on the Navajo Nation or teaching among her gardens in Marlboro, Vermont. How to create environments that promote creativity is the thread that ties together her many different teaching experiences.
contact Ann: gengarellya@gmail.com