5 fun ways Philly orgs have pivoted to virtual

Girl Scout Troop 98010 of Philadelphia connects via Zoom.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania keeps its 40,000+ members and 15,000+ volunteers connected via Girl Scouts at Home. Through the program the Girl Scouts can attend virtual troop meetings to complete steps towards earning badges, participate in a virtual summer camp, or earn hours towards a President’s Volunteer Service Award.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 98010 of Philadelphia, like other GSEP troops, meet up in Zoom meetings. They can also attend live gathering on GSEP’s Facebook page every Tuesday and Friday for STEM-centered activities and singalongs, among other activities.

The Girl Scouts at Home program also has a resources for volunteers, parents, and guardians, including opportunities for volunteers to complete training virtually or connect with other volunteers.

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Kimmel Cultural Campus hosts a virtual graduation afterparty for the Class of 2020.

ILL DOOTS, a Philly based artist collective that includes an emcee, singer, bassist, drummer, keyboardist, and a host of frequent collaborators, will be performing at the 2020 virtual graduation party cohosted by the Kimmel Center and the School District of Philadelphia June 9. (Courtesy photo)

The Kimmel Cultural Campus will host and produce a virtual graduation afterparty for the Class of 2020 on Tuesday, June 9, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m, in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia.

ILL Doots and Philly’s DJ Aktive and DJ Skip will be musical guests during the event — which will be streamed on multiple social media platforms, as well as the District’s television station PSTV.

“While these are uncertain times, there is one thing that we are certain about,” Anne Ewers, president and CEO of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, said via email, “we want and need to honor the incredible hard work and accomplishments of our graduating seniors and this party will be one way to demonstrate how proud we are of each one of them.”

In addition to hosting the virtual afterparty, the Kimmel Cultural Campus intends to extend the celebration into the upcoming season by providing free tickets to performances for 2020 grads.

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Rock to the Future offers free virtual music lessons (plus, live streamed ‘brain breaks’).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu7qMIZhvII]

To keep youth connected and creative, Rock to the Future has been conducting guitar, keyboard and bass instructions online — at no cost to Philadelphia kids in grades 3 to 12. (No instrument available at home? The organization can help hook you up with one.)  In addition to those lessons the organization offers online vocal, music theory, music production, sampling and beatmaking and song analysis classes.

And at noon, Monday through Thursday, Rock to the Future live streams self-care, mindfulness and creativity sessions on the organization’s Facebook page.

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Kids write stories at home, StoryUP! brings them to life online.

In April, StoryUP!, the interactive children’s theater company, launched a Stories at Home project, inviting kids stuck at home to use their time to write a story which members of the professional improv troupe turn into short, funny videos and post them to their Facebook page.

“Making up stories is something kids of all ages can do,” Martha Cooney, the founder and executive director of the organization said in an email. She added that one of her hopes is that the project will prompt kids who see their stories brought to life by the troupe members to be inspired to write and create further.

“Younger children can dictate a story and really get absorbed in the pretend play of it. Older kids might write a story and be inspired to make art to go along with it or film their own video. Coming up with stories and acting them out together is a fun activity families can do.”

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First Person Arts creates a digital memoir from the pandemic with ‘COVID Stories’.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvmliLvBPdw]

First Person Arts created an online platform and campaign titled The COVID Stories, a series of online digital storytelling activities for the public, which started March 24 with an open call for story submissions and weekly prompts.

“Our intention,” Samantha Heth, the First Person Arts outreach coordinator, said in an email to Generocity, “is to create storytelling and sharing that will: 1) help individuals shape their experiences during this time into art for the stage, page, on-air, online and in life; 2) connect people who are quarantined and/or exercising social distancing; and, 3) hopefully assuage some of the tension and anxiety people are experiences and inspire them to remember the incredible resiliency of the human spirit, even during uncertainty. The stories from this open call will be collected and added to the First Person Arts archive and serve as an important documentary of these times.”

You can see the COVID Stories here.