Why Southside Bethlehem?
Bethlehem’s south side is an area characterized by a population with limited education and low-academic achievement, high poverty rates, minority populations with 40% speaking a language other than English, a high percentage of female-headed households and high unemployment rates. Children participating in the PASELA project are thus at risk for developing cognitive, language comprehension, expressive language, social-emotional and motor skills that will impede literacy development and school readiness. Bethlehem’s south side is an area rich in all of the art forms… arts organizations serving as PASELA Partners provide teaching artists who work with school educators to teach children using strategies that focus on visual arts, music, movement and drama. Each classroom has rotating Artists-in-Residence to ensure all art areas are being integrated into early childhood learning. PASELA Arts Organizations are the Banana Factory, Godfrey Daniels, Pennsylvania Youth Theatre and Touchstone
