Ruthie Fisher

Ruthie Fisher has spent the last decade collaborating with school systems to develop meaningful educational and artistic experiences that utilize the arts as a teaching and learning tool. She has a passion and expertise for embedding arts-based strategies into Social Studies and ELA curriculum.

As an arts integration specialist, Ruthie has worked as an educator, instructional coach, curriculum designer, drama specialist, and teaching artist.

She holds an MFA in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Communications from Tulane University. She is also a licensed theatre teacher for grades PK-12.

Ruthie served as a Creative Learning Instructional Coach for the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child Initiative in the Austin Independent School District and a Drama Specialist at the University of Texas, where she provided professional development workshops and educational support in arts-based instruction to hundreds of teachers, school administrators, curriculum specialists, and teaching artists across all subject areas and grade levels.

As an educator, Ruthie utilizes drama, digital storytelling, and visual arts to enhance curricular objectives and empower young people to learn, create dialogue, and take action about social issues. Ruthie believes in a student-centered and experiential approach to teaching and learning by creating spaces that promote creativity, collaboration, and exploration.

Most recently, Ruthie created and taught a yearlong curriculum for seven hundred students in grades PK-5. The class served as an innovative learning space and creativity incubator for students. Students learned multiple ways to access and create stories while experimenting with various art forms, digital technology, and design thinking strategies in order to launch their stories into the world.

Before entering education, Ruthie spent five years working in theatre, entertainment, and digital marketing. As a result, she has cultivated skills in storytelling, interviewing, editing, and digital media, which have influenced her work as an educator and artist.

Ruthie aspires to develop innovative spaces and tools for educators, administrators, and caregivers to engage young people in social justice and global citizenship education, and to use creativity as a currency to transform ideas into action.