Curriculum Designer

Who we are
Founded in 1976, Penumbra honors the emotional, physical, and spiritual power of Black cultural expression to advance racial healing. We nurture Black art, promote social equity, and inspire creative resiliency. Once home to playwright August Wilson and standing as Minnesota’s sole Black professional theatre company, Penumbra garners national acclaim with a remarkable portfolio of nearly 200 plays and over 30 premieres, serving 40,000 patrons and 5,000 students annually. Building upon this 47-year history, the newly evolved Penumbra Center for Racial Healing, situated in the heart of Saint Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, extends its legacy through fresh artistic endeavors, robust equity and inclusion training, and wellness services. To learn more about the Penumbra Center of Racial Healing, please visit penumbratheatre.org.
What we’re doing
PRIDE (Positive Racial Identity Development and Empowerment) program is a new initiative designed to support children of all races as they learn about concepts and experiences of race, identity, and social justice. Primary beneficiaries are youth ages 2-22 and their families.
PRIDE supports a child’s journey through adolescence with racial and cultural pride, a nuanced knowledge of history, and practical skills to build resiliency, self-esteem, and a sense of community and belonging. While the program will prioritize racial identity development and support racial healing, it will be intersectional in nature, making room for emerging comprehensions of gender and gender identity, social class, place of origin and nationality, cognitive, emotional and physical disabilities, and religious difference.
How we’re doing it
We will be gathering 15 Curriculum Designers to create 5 developmentally appropriate curriculum modules: Pre-K and Families Curriculum, Elementary School Curriculum, Middle School Curriculum, High School Curriculum, Post Secondary Curriculum. The process will be led by Penumbra’s Youth Engagement Director, Theo Langason and supported by additional Penumbra staff. For each curriculum module there will be 3 Curriculum Designers. We will collaborate as large and small groups to develop the modules and refine the details of the curriculum as a whole.
Areas of Attention for Curriculum Development: Curriculum Goals, Term Definition (descriptive, not prescriptive), Activity Generation (developmentally appropriate, includes scaffolding), Placemaking/Hosting, Intermodule Collaboration/Conversation, Teaching Artist Best Practices, Student, Family and Teaching Artist Care

Who we’re looking to collaborate with
Educators, Artists, Organizers, Mental Health Professionals, Elders with:
A strong sense of self identity - race, gender, ability, queerness, etc
A strong connection to personal culture and community
Experience working with young people - formal/informal
Experience discussing race, racism, privilege
Experience working with curriculum
Willingness to enter into this process with curiosity, humility, and openness
Willingness and ability to gather and collaborate in-person
When will the work take place? - May 2024-September 2024 (110 Hrs total)
Full team meetings 3-4 times a month May - September (4 hours each meeting, includes learning, art, and community building components)
Some full team meetings will be “learning summits” with subject matter experts
Curriculum module teams will meet as a part of full team meetings and independently(with support from Penumbra staff)
Compensation
110 hours at $140/hour Contract work (1099)
Approximate hours allocation:
54 hours for full group meeting
40 hours for module group work
16 hours of research/reflection
How are we selecting participants?
Please provide some/all of the following: A letter of interest, a resume, work samples, other relevant documents/information/questions. For these materials, we want to get a sense of you as an educator, youth worker, collaborator and community member. Materials can be submitted in written, video, or audio formats. If you have accessibility needs, please do not hesitate to reach out for accommodations.
Please submit materials to Penumbra Youth Development Director Theo Langason by May 24. Theo.Langason@PenumbraTheatre.org