Susan Woodham awarded the 2017 Ray Doughty Arts Integration Award
September 25, 2017
Susan Woodham, Ballet Spartanburg Dance Instructor and Outreach Coordinator, will receive the Ray Doughy Arts Integration Award on October 5-6 in Columbia South Carolina, during the Palmetto State Arts Education Conference, “Designing Pathways to Student Success.”
The Ray Doughty Arts Integration Award is given by The Palmetto State Arts Education Organization each year to honor an individual/group/organization that embodies the true spirit of arts integration through the successful utilization of community partnerships and resources. Individuals must demonstrate excellence in creating a greater awareness and encourage the growth of arts integration programs in South Carolina.
Susan is a full time dance teacher for Pine Street School as well as a dance instructor and Outreach coordinator for Ballet Spartanburg. She has worked with Ballet Spartanburg for 26 years. “Susan has been the driving force for 26 years of the outreach arts integration programs we offer to Spartanburg citizens through the school system, both in and after school, City locations, as well as outreach services to provide residences in multiple sites; all exemplifying her knowledge of the power and change the performing arts creates in a student’s life. A consummate dance advocate, Susan researches new ideas, reads and shares national statistics on the impact of the arts, always with the mindset that there are always new ways to broaden and expand students through dance. “
“Susan created the City Dance program in working with the City to offer dance to low income students on site and at the studio. She worked with the following programs to establish long-lasting relationships to provide arts integrated education: The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Upstate, The Girl Scouts-Midlands to Mountains, The Weed and Seed Organization, The Big Brother, Big Sisters of the Upstate, and Spartanburg School Districts 1, 6 and 7. Not only did Susan create partnerships, she often wrote grants to the City, local, state and national foundations for funding. Susan’s heart and vision for students to experience life through dance and arts integration is palpable and contagious to everyone she meets. It is critical to her core that the arts and most importantly, the performing arts changes lives.” – Executive Director, Teresa S. Hough.
