Endowed Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program

About the Program

The endowed program offers a pre-service Arts Integration Conference, ArtsLINK, to provide students with the elements of arts integration, opportunities to practice collaborative planning, and practice instructing K-6 students. The endowment additionally shares exemplar integration with K-6 principals and educators across the region through a research symposium and provides fellowship opportunities.

In addition to endowed programming, we partner with the Utah State Board of Education to provide professional learning for K-6 BTS Arts educators through regional meetings, in-service workshops, and partnerships with university groups including the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Book Arts, and UtahPresents. For more information or to request professional development programming, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

 
Read our story in Studio '24 about Beverley Taylor Sorenson and her incredible impact. 

Meet the Team

Professional Development Partner (Dance), Ashley Boyack | Ashley received a BFA in Modern Dance from the University of Utah and a Masters degree in Education from the University of Northern Colorado. She began teaching for the Tanner dance program in 1991 and while there, presented at the daCi conference in Finland. Then she moved to Lawrence, Kansas and joined the Lawrence Arts Center. While there she was the Director of the Youth Dance Theatre and served as the Lawrence Arts Centers Dance Education Specialist. She helped write the Lawrence Arts Centers Modern Dance Curriculum, Boys sports dance class curriculum and helped to create the SmArt Moves program for the early childhood program. Since returning home, Ashley has taught in the schools as a Beverly Taylor Sorenson Dance Specialist and now serves as a professional development partner for the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts and Learning Program. In 2016 she received the Sorenson Legacy Award for excellence in Elementary Dance Instruction. Ashley has also been teaching an online dance education course for the Utah State Board of Education. In 2017 Ashley joined the Tanner Dance program as a full time Dance Specialist teaching in all areas of the program.

Professional Development Partner (Drama) Penelope Marantz-Caywood is known and respected throughout the Salt Lake Valley as an actor, teacher, choreographer, and as the Artistic Director of University of Utah Youth Theatre.

Youth Theatre is a successful year-round performing arts training program for youth ages 4 to 18. Over 650 students train in drama annually and over 6000 elementary school students are bussed to see one of their two productions each year. Youth Theatre is part of the Kennedy Center Partners in Education program along with Kingsbury Hall and the Salt Lake City School District. Through her Partners in Education collaboration (Salt Lake City School District and Kingsbury Hall) she has created a unique theatre-arts program at Bennion Elementary School (SLCSD) in which she demonstrates drama strategies in the classroom, presents scaffolded workshops to teachers, and assists in the implementation of drama as a teaching method. As this program has grown, Penelope has presented at numerous arts integration and teacher training workshops throughout Utah.

Because of her unique position at the University of Utah, Penelope also teaches two courses for pre-service teachers; Materials and Methods of Creative Drama and Integrating the Arts in the Classroom. As a director and choreographer, Penelope has been involved with over thirty productions along the Wasatch Front. In 2011, she wrote the music and lyrics for an original musical about the perils of the internet called Viral and celebrated its World Premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland.

U of U BTS Arts Education Coordinator: Alexis Foran | Holding a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts and Art Education, and a Master’s Degree in Special Education, Alexis brings a unique blend of creativity and specialized knowledge to the classroom. With over 14 years of teaching experience, she has been a dedicated advocate for art integration, recognizing its profound impact on students’ cognitive and emotional development. Her passion for art education and expertise in special education has allowed her to develop lessons that teach to students’ individual interests and learning styles, empower them to explore their passions, and express themselves authentically. She strongly believes that invested learning occurs when personal connections are made, and with the right guidance and support, every individual has the potential to flourish.

Professional Development Partner (Visual Art), Kerri Hopkins | Kerri is originally from Buffalo, NY, but she has been calling Salt Lake City home for over a decade. Her background is in film and photography but she was drawn to arts education during graduate school. She holds a B.A. in Media Study from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her MFA in Film Studies from the University of Utah. Since 2009, Kerri has run the ArtsBridge program for the College of Fine Arts. She loves having the opportunity to work with students, helping them share their love of the arts to the next generation of artists by bringing the arts back to the schools that need it most. Kerri joined the PDP team for the U’s BTS region in 2015 and specializes in using film, technology, and eco-art practices in the art space.

Professional Development Partner (Music) Emilee Knell | Emilee Knell is an adjunct faculty member at Brigham Young University (BYU), serving as the Director of the Young Musicians Academy, a preschool music lab, as well as teaching Music in the Elementary Classroom. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Utah where her focus is on Early Childhood and Elementary Music Education, Children’s Choir, and Music Integration. Before digging into her PhD, she taught music for six years at Timpanogos Elementary in Provo City School District. She is also currently a Certification Faculty Member for the SongWorks Educators Association, and is thrilled to have been a part of the courses held at the U of U, summer 2024. She has an MA in Music Education and a BA in Music, both from BYU.

Professional Development Partner (Visual Art), Trish Saccomano | Trish teaches Integrated Curriculum and Creativity courses in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies. Trish came to the University of Utah after a career teaching in the Salt Lake City School District and still identifies as a practitioner to this day! Her areas of expertise include Early Childhood Education, Arts Integration and Classroom Management. Her research interests include Children on the Autism Spectrum and Arts Integration.

Our Reach

The University of Utah works in partnership with the following districts to provide quality arts integrated professional development support (click on map to enlarge): 

The University of Utah works in partnership with the following regional districts & charters: Salt Lake City, Granite, Canyons, Murray, Tooele, Park City, North & South Summit, Guadalupe, Canyon Rim Academy, Weilenmann School of Discovery, Dual Immersion Academy, and Ascent Academy West Valley.

Beverley Taylor Sorenson 

“It’s what little children do. They sing, they dance, they create. We have a responsibility to help these children reach their full potential, and that can only be done by keeping the arts in education.” -Beverley Taylor Sorenson

Throughout her life, Beverley Taylor Sorenson was a tireless champion for the arts. She began developing an integrated arts teaching model in 1995 by collaborating with arts education professionals, state organizations, and higher education institutions throughout Utah. In 2008, the Utah State Legislature adopted the model, named it the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program in Beverley’s honor, and has since provided the funding needed to place the program in a portion of elementary schools across the state. Right up until her passing at the age of 89, Beverley was a fixture at Capitol Hill, and she committed her time and efforts to lobbying the legislature for more funding to ensure that every elementary child in Utah receives the benefits of an arts-rich education through this program. Learn more about Beverley Taylor Sorenson’s generous contributions to arts education in the state of Utah.

 BTSALP Graduate Endowed Fellowship

The Endowed Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTSALP) Fellowship is awarded to select outstanding graduate students in the CFA who are passionate about furthering arts education in research and practice. Applicants must provide strong evidence of school or community-based pedagogical experience working with young people and educators in grades K-12. For more information, go here. 

BTSALP Undergraduate Fellowship

The Endowed Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTSALP) Fellowship is awarded to select outstanding undergraduate arts teaching students in the CFA who are passionate about pursuing a career in arts education. Fellows train and learn from the best BTSALP educators located throughout the University of Utah region. Applicants must provide strong evidence of school or community-based pedagogical experience working with young people and educators in grades K-12. For more information, go here.