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Arts Education

Michael Kenwood Lippert, Dayton

Nominated By: Dayton Power & Light Company

Michael Kenwood Lippert is an actor and educator who is using his talents to transform Ohio's education system one classroom at a time. His program, which is quickly becoming a national model, helped transform the Muse Machine's struggling elementary program into a hugely successful residency-based program. In this program, Lippert uses his irrepressible energy and love of theater to foster an environment where students are truly put first and even the driest subjects explode with life.

Educated at Bowling Green State University, Lippert has spent his entire career focusing on professional growth and development. In addition to being a founding member of The Human Race Theatre Company in Dayton, he also has worked as an arts integration consultant for the Association for the Advancement of Arts Education, and participated in the Kennedy Center Seminar, "Artists as Educators: Planning Effective Workshops for Teachers." In his current position as the elementary program director at the Muse Machine, an organization "dedicated to changing the lives of young people through the arts," Lippert has created arts-integrated curriculum for more than 1,000 primary and secondary classrooms throughout Ohio and Kentucky.

However, it is Lippert's ingenuity and tireless efforts that truly set him apart from others in his field. During a time when the arts are marginalized and academic testing is stressed, Lippert encourages his students to take "healthy risks" in order to uncover and explore their creative spirit, while simultaneously addressing actual curriculum and content standards. Through musical and lyrical composition, as well as set design and construction, subjects such as math, science, language arts and social studies are taught in ways that are both effective and enduring. These innovative techniques allow Lippert's programs not only to have an immediate impact on students and teachers, but also to create a positive ripple effect across the whole community.

Michael K. Lippert's video tribute (7:34 minutes)