Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo, visionary founder of Side x Side, struggled in school as a child. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 20 that she discovered her unique way of thinking was not just a learning challenge, it was actually the key to unlocking her gifts.
In 2011, while volunteering at her children’s school, Beth saw students struggling to understand and retain academic content and recognized a general lack of creativity in the curriculum. Compelled to find a solution, she worked “side by side” with other volunteer parents and classroom teachers to build arts-integrated lessons.
Beth’s vision to help young people engage in learning, coupled with our collective passion for the arts, inspires our mission. Side x Side empowers youth through the arts working side by side with teachers and artists to cultivate creativity, strengthen academic achievement, and build connected communities.
Witnessing student success and seeing the potential to reach more classrooms, Beth explored partnerships and funding sources which led to a collaboration in 2014 with Dr. Kelly Hrenko, Associate Dean, College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Southern Maine, and the official launch of Side x Side as a nonprofit organization.
Side x Side began providing classroom programs across Portland’s K–12 public schools and created the Summer Arts Institute, a professional development seminar in arts integration for classroom teachers, teaching artists, and USM interns.
Since its inception, Side x Side has relied on foundations, individual gifts, and private funds to maintain our in-school programing, expand to Lewiston schools, and to increase our focus on; teacher confidence, student academic achievement, classroom engagement, creativity, and belonging, and knowledge acquisition through arts integration.
We have seen over the years that arts-integrated programming benefits everyone, not just those who learn differently, but students across the academic spectrum. Arts integration helps all students to experience and retain their learning, and see themselves and each other in a new light. This can change the dynamic of a classroom and builds confidence, connection, and community.
In 2018, we began a partnership with the incredible Lily Sarah Grace Fund. Founded to honor the memory of three bright, shining girls who loved art and learned differently, the fund’s work is dedicated to arts integration for the simple fact that it is what is best for students and best for education. It is an honor to partner with the Lily Sarah Grace Fund and we are so grateful for their support and connection in our work together.
In addition to the Lily Sarah Grace Fund, we are grateful for the continued support of our community near and far, in the form of donations and volunteering and more. We are so honored by the support this movement has received and we look forward to improving the educational experience for all students.
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