Wells International Foundation Partners on STEAM+ Professional Development Conference in D.C

WASHINGTON - June 3, 2017 - PRLog -- The Wells International Foundation (WIF) is a proud partner of the STEAM+ Arts Integration and Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.  Scheduled for 28-30 July 2017, this program is being organized by J Rêve International to increase awareness of the importance of the arts in education and to encourage conversation about arts integration among multi-subject educators.

STEAM education is one of WIF's six Strategic Focus Areas.  WIF first partnered with J Rêve International on a STEAM initiative in 2016, when J Rêve brought K-12 educators to Paris, France for a STEAM professional development program focused on the art of Beauford Delaney.

J Rêve's exchange programs span the globe, taking artists, educators and art enthusiasts to countries including the United Arab Emirates, India, and Cuba. The organization's STEAM+ initiative emphasizes the importance of education beyond Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The added "A" and plus sign represent how adding arts to education enriches students in all disciplines.

"Art is disappearing from the classroom even though studies show arts integration helps students succeed in school and in life," says Jacqueline Cofield, founder of J Rêve. "We've organized the STEAM+ Professional Development Program as a hands-on conference where participants will collaborate to produce tangible steps towards incorporating interdisciplinary arts into education."

The three-day STEAM+ event in Washington will bring together educators, artists, programmers, and policymakers with the intent to explore productive ways of incorporating art themes into interdisciplinary education.  Partners include the U.S. Department of Education, NASA, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Hidden Figures personality, aerospace engineer, and mathematician Christine Mann Darden will speak at the opening reception on July 28th.  Participants will be able to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture or the National Museum of Women in the Arts as part of the program.

The STEAM+ Arts Integration and Advocacy Conference will take place at Pepco Edison Place Gallery, 701 Ninth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Registration for the conference is now open.  View the agenda online here: http://jrevesteam.com/agenda/.

For more information about the Wells International Foundation, click here: http://wellsinternationalfoundation.org.