Karissa Sywulka, Director of STL Teaching Fellows Program, Shares Music Expertise During Summer Institute

07/26/2023

The United States Patent and Trademark Office hosted its weeklong 2023 National Summer Teacher Institute on Saint Louis University’s campus in July. Teachers from throughout the U.S. attended the event to gain insight into how they can inspire and support the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. 

During the Copyright Carnival session, participants learned about the types of protected works and other key aspects of copyright laws. Participants also had an opportunity to create original work in an area of their choice: literary, performing or visual arts.

Karissa Sywulka, director of the STL Teaching Fellows at SLU, a Master of Arts in Teaching pathway at the Saint Louis University School of Education, was invited to be the station chair for the “Performing Arts: Sound Recordings” station in the Copyright Carnival activity. Sywulka was chosen to lead the session due to her experience as a music teacher and composer. She was assisted by Tess Farrell, a new STL Teaching Fellow who will be teaching elementary music at Washington Montessori Elementary in St. Louis. As part of the lesson on real-world applications of copyrights, Sywulka and Farrell assisted teachers in creating musical works.