Melissa Holman-Kursky

Personal Details

Bio

Melissa Holman-Kursky, MA, M.Ed. is an educator, communications professional, and nonprofit owner from San Francisco. She is the Director of Curriculum & Training at the Un-Scripted Theater Company, a nonprofit improv theater in San Francisco. She has dual masters degrees in Child Development and Education (Special Ed focus), and has been a classroom teacher and professional improvisor for nearly 20 years. She is also a founding member of the Nickelodeon Parent's Choice Award-winning ImprovBoston Family Show.

Melissa is currently an in-demand parenting coach and educational consultant, working with both families and children. She leads workshops for educators on social-emotional learning, arts integration, and academic skills, and is a speaker in the field of applied improvisation for board governance, design thinking, and womxn-based leadership. She has created custom workshops and experiences for groups ranging from 10 to 10,000.

Current position (2)

Co-Owner/Director of Curriculum Design & Training

The Un-Scripted Theater Company

Executive Producer/Founder

West Coast Musical Improv Festival

Achievements (3)

Published Book Chapter

Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job
Publication date: Dec 2009, Bedford/St. Martins

Wrote a chapter on professional writing in the educational sector for a business writing book; created model documents for education-oriented writing (such as narrative report cards).

Published Article

“Teaching Perspective and Point-of-View”
Publication date: Aug 2006, Associated Press

An article on the use of social justice-oriented texts to teach early elementary students concepts around perspective and point-of-view.

Published Article

“Behavioral Catch-22: When Educational Expectations Conflict with Cultural and Racial Norms”
Publication date: Jul 2006, Associated Press

A sociological article on behavioral code-switching and as its psychological and psychosocial impact on children who must employ it to be successful in school.

Degrees (2)

BA Drama and English

Tufts University

1998 to 2002

MA Child Development, MA Education

Tufts University

2003 to 2004

Presentations

Presentations (3)

California Association of Independent Schools

Workshop on Humor in the Classroom/Improv for Teachers

Wonder Women Conference

Design Thinking/Ideation Phase improv-based workshop for female educational leaders/administrators at a multi-day conference.

NAIS Conference (Upcoming)

Boards Without Boredom: How You Can Use Improv and Storytelling Skills to Improve Governance, Communication, and Camaraderie

School governance is never a simple affair. An independent school board is tasked with coming together relatively irregularly, with diverse views and communication styles, and working quickly - yet effectively - with high levels of trust and constant idea generation, while making crucial decisions. And yet, much the professional development for boards is limited in scope, largely discussion-based, expensive, and even...boring? Using applied improvisation techniques, boards can learn to collaborate more effectively; build trust, empathy, and open communication; gain cognitive flexibility and active listening skills; and become vibrant, confident storytellers who can convey the school's mission in a compelling, authentic way.

Workshops (2)

Boards Without Boredom: How You Can Use Improv and Storytelling Skills to Improve Governance, Communication, and Camaraderie

2 hours

Rehearsing Empathy: Using Improv in the Classroom to Foster Compassion & Communication

2 hours

Improvisation is a powerful - and fun! - tool that educators can easily learn to incorporate into their classrooms during the school day. When a group does improv together, they build interpersonal skills like nonverbal communication, foster the ability for compassion through skills like active listening and perspective-taking, and practice the ability to work collaboratively and co-create at a very high level. Teachers can also apply improv exercises to traditional academic areas, most notably Language Arts and Science, as well as to academic and prosocial skills like confident public speaking, cognitive flexibility, risk-taking, and resilience.

Past talks (1)

Humor: Where Would We Be Without It?

California Association of Independent Schools

San Francisco, CA

March 8, 2014