Arts educators are often the only teacher of their kind in a school community. Being an elementary music teacher sometimes makes 22-year teaching veteran Luana Palimetakis feel like an “island.”

“I’m the only one of me in my building,” Palimetakis said, adding that though her school community is supportive, her unique position as an arts educator can sometimes make it a challenge to find collaborators. 

However, a new national program seeks to build bridges between these “islands” to eliminate the silos that may preclude arts educators from connecting with one another. 

The Connected Arts Networks (CAN) aims to link arts educators from all over the country into Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to increase collaboration and access to subject-relevant resources.

“I feel like having PLCs for arts teachers and having other people who see and do what they do on a daily basis and can relate and can offer suggestions and advice and help and share ideas and build and grow with each other — I think that that is one of the most important things,” Palimetakis said. 

PLCs are frequently used by educators to connect and collaborate through sharing teaching ideas and practices. 

The National Association for Music Educators (NAfME) – which is part of CAN – connects a total of 484 teacher participants specializing in dance, music, theater, and visual and media arts. 

NAfME boasts eight PLCS composed of 100 music teachers serving grades pre-k through 12, with the addition of 15 teacher leaders and two other leaders from the New York City CAN project. 

Palimetakis is one of these teacher leaders, helping to represent North Carolina. She co-leads a PLC for music educators mostly from the Eastern Time Zone.  

Palimetakis said she and the other music teacher leaders got started in spring of 2022, with the individual PLCs starting to meet in January of this year. 

Palimetakis recently finished up working at Jesse Gurganus Elementary School and is going on to teach at Hunters Creek Elementary School in Onslow County this school year.

Growing up in Ohio with a musician for a father, Palimetakis was surrounded with music and the arts from an early age and said she asked for her first keyboard as a Christmas present at age 10.

“I kind of knew that was where I wanted to go,” she said.

She went on to study Spanish and music in college and soon became an elementary music teacher after a brief stint as a Spanish teacher.

Palimetakis said her favorite part about serving as a music teacher is the ability to allow children to see the world through a different lens and light up young faces while instilling the love of music early on. 

“I feel so much of education is focused on testing and drilling, and there’s not a ton of time left for creativity. And when you come to music, and you come to art, you have that opportunity,” Palimetakis said. “And it’s so neat to see the kids that are like, ‘Well, what if I do it wrong?’ You can’t do this wrong, this is you. And this is you getting to be you and express you.”

The PLCs meet monthly to discuss and share best practices for teaching, research, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Palimetakis also said the PLCs also function as a safe space for teachers to talk and bond. 

“I’ve only encountered a supportive community on all sides,” Palimetakis said.

Working collaboratively with other teachers provides what Palimetakis calls an “immense library of ideas” to pull from as well as granting educators a community to gain plenty of supportive, collaborative, and illuminating resources they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. 

“I, as a teacher, learn from everyone, whether someone has 30 years experience or someone has two. Each one of those teachers that I encounter has something to offer me that I don’t already have,” Palimetakis said. 

The PLCs also give arts educators the opportunity to not only grow professionally and personally, but also in a way that helps their students, especially through providing students an example of the benefits of collaboration, Palimetakis said.

“I think if we as adults set that example, and they can see us working together instead of staying in our own little islands, they’re going to see the importance of collaboration and working with people who are different than you or do different things than you — and it’s okay that you and I do different things. We’ll find a connection somehow,” she said.

CAN came from a five-year federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education entitled Leveraging Arts Learning Communities for Teacher Leadership and Student Achievement. The project was first announced in 2021 and just started its third year. 

“As CAN continues, and if there’s more recruitment, I encourage young teachers to apply and be a part of it,” Palimetakis said.

Palimetakis has been a longtime member of NAfME and first heard CAN was seeking out teacher leaders while reading a periodical from the organization. 

“I read the article and I was like, well, I mean, what have I got to lose?” Palimetakis said.

The music teacher was soon interviewed and offered a leadership position within CAN, and said she feels very fortunate to be a part of the project. 

“I’m surrounded by so many amazing educators that I would have never had the opportunity to work with, and now I consider them my friends,” Palimetakis said. “It’s been a really amazing experience.”