Omar Teaching Tools

When Omar arrived at Carolina Performing Arts, there was an opportunity to get young people involved. Both Rhiannon Giddens and Omar director Kaneza Schaal were invested in bringing Omar’s story to students. With the opera’s North Carolina setting in mind, CPA worked with partners at Carolina K-12 to design an initiative aimed at high school students across the state. Christie Norris, Director of Carolina K-12, recommended a small group of teachers from a wide variety of backgrounds to help with implementation. These teachers found new and innovative ways to incorporate Omar ibn Said’s story in their classrooms.

The teachers who were involved with the Omar Education Initiative received a training from Latisha Smith and Sarah Carrier. Latisha created the Omar Workbook when she worked at Spoleto Festival. The workbook tells Omar ibn Said’s life story through illustrations and text. Latisha brought the teachers through the history of the Workbook and explained how it could be used in the classroom.

Sarah Carrier, one of CPA’s partner’s at Wilson Library, worked with the teachers on ways to use digitized archival documents in their classrooms. Sarah offered strategies to help students see the connections between visual and material culture and their own contemporary lives.

Latisha Smith’s Omar Workbook Training

Sarah Carrier’s Omar Archives Training