Castle Arts

05/21/2026

Representatives from Fillmore Elementary's second grade class performed with the fabulous Miss Bobbie (Lancaster) at the South Putnam School Board meeting yesterday. Stay tuned for a video with the full song (which is super cute!).

05/16/2026

Thank you, again, to the fabulous Miss Bobbie (Lancaster), for her final workshop with Fillmore second graders. They'll debut their fabulous collaboratively written song next week at the SPSC School Board meeting. So exciting!!!!

05/08/2026

Wanted to give more detail about last week's workshop at GMS, because it exemplifies The Castle's relationship with DePauw students, which we value so highly! The students who developed and led it were Sydney Scarbrough, Lauren Childs, Lucille Trover, and Macy Happe. They started off with an Earth Day Kahoot, then went into talking about sustainability and how each student can incorporate sustainable activities/practices into their own lives and the three pillars of sustainability. They then had an air pollution lab where they were able to make their own air pollution tests and place them around the school. They ended with painting rocks for the Theta Garden near the GCPA.THANK YOU so much to all of these students, and to the organizations they represent, environmental fellows and Theta!!!

The Castle very much wants to make these sort of programs, the perfect curricular marriage between our partner schools and DePauw, the norm. They're so powerful!!!

05/02/2026

What an amazing day for The Castle yesterday!!!!!! Four separate workshops! Miss Bobbie (Lancaster) continuing her wonderful work with Fillmore kiddos, plus... Tim Barr did an incredible workshop at SPMS for seventh graders that got the kids engaging critically with AI and defeating robots at their own game! Tim Cope and Miranda Bognar brought geology into the eighth grade classroom at SPMS, and Sydney Scarbrough did a repeat of last year's very successful Earth Day workshop for eighth graders at GMS! Whew!!! What a May Day!!!! Thanks so much to everyone who participated and brought their time and talent into the classroom! So grateful to all of you!

04/18/2026

Today was a magnificent two-fer at Fillmore with The Castle! 2nd graders continued to work on their song with the fabulous Miss Bobbie (it is gonna be good, folks!), and DePauw students Confidence Korrie and Iden Graham led 5th graders through an activity in their STEM class in making lanterns with home-made paper. It was a great workshop, where the kids learned about topics such as upcycling in preparation for Earth Day! Thanks to everyone for your wonderful, learning-packed energy!

04/10/2026

Thank you to the marvelous Bobbie Lancaster for day 2 of her songwriting residency at Fillmore Elementary. Can't wait to hear the music come together!!!

04/03/2026

The Castle is back in action with a mini-residency with the fabulous Miss Bobbie (Lancaster) at Fillmore Elementary that launched today. These lucky second graders will work with Bobbie four Fridays in a row to write a song (or maybe 2!) with the hope of performing it together at the May South Putnam School Board meeting. Such fun! The song already has major ear worm potential!!

12/08/2025

Hi friends!

In case you couldn't join us for our inaugural "Friends Raising" event, here's a glimpse inside...

A glimpse into The Castle's inaugural "Friends Raising" sessions!

12/01/2025

This Giving Tuesday, please consider contributing to and/or becoming a sustaining member of The Castle. With so many challenges to our public schools (and particularly our rural public schools), the simple approach we use to bring local talent into the classroom to enrich the curriculum reminds everyone involved what learning can feel like when it's grounded in curiosity, excitement, relevance and collective meaning-making!

Your community for smart giving. Donate to curated funds and make a difference together.

11/19/2025

We're so excited to announce that The Castle has been awarded a grant from Trust for Learning to launch a pilot project, "Reading Together: A Collaborative Approach to Embodied Literacy" for the second grade team at Bainbridge and Roachdale Elementary Schools! Over 18 months, we'll bring Castle programming directly into classrooms, facilitate a community of practice around the principles of ideal learning environments, and host community conversations about how to make this embodied literacy approach meaningful for kids and their families! Stay tuned for stories from the field!!!

Trust for Learning is a philanthropic partnership expanding ideal learning environments for children and families in publicly funded settings, pre-natal to age eight.