Originally published July 29, 2015.
A program designed to build sustainable musical theatre programs in underserved middle schools that currently have none.
-The ShowKits have arrived! In our last update, we shared that each school had selected their show. James N. Gamble Montessori High School will perform Once on this Island Jr., Finneytown Middle School will perform Honk! Jr., and Holmes Middle School will perform Annie Jr. As summer break flies by, our JumpStart teachers have secured licenses for their selected productions and are busy reviewing the contents of their MTI ShowKits. If you’re curious about the contents of an MTI ShowKit, you can find out more here.
-Bootcamp date set! The first JumpStart Teacher Training Bootcamp will take place from 9:00am-4:00pm on Friday, October 2, 2015 at the Aronoff Center for the Performing Arts. The workshop will cover the basics of establishing a middle school musical theatre program in a lively and interactive style. It will be led by Marty Johnson from iTheatrics in NYC, an experienced director, teacher and playwright in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences. A few spaces for the workshop are still available. Future JumpStart applicants, local theatre professionals and educators are welcome to attend. If interested, contact Ginny Butsch at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org to secure your spot!
-We did it! We met Music Theatre International’s JumpStart Theatre Challenge and MTI matched all gifts to a total of $10,000!
MTI’s John Prignano presented a check to EdTA Executive Director Julie Cohen Theobald at the Thespian Festival in Lincoln, NE.
Grant Updates:
- The JumpStart team expresses its sincere thanks to The Greater Cincinnati Foundation for its recent award of a two-year grant of $25,000 and to The Daniel and Susan Pfau Foundation for its recent two-year award of $15,000. We deeply appreciate the commitment of the foundations’ trustees and staff to positive outcomes for underserved middle-school students!
- At press time, we received notice that the Ohio Arts Council will fund an Arts Partnership grant for JumpStart—more details in the next issue! The Ohio Arts Council (OAC) will receive the largest monetary increase in state funds in its 50-year history in 2016 and 2017, thanks to Governor John R. Kasich and the Ohio legislators’ enactment of House Bill 64, the state’s biennial operating budget. JumpStart students, teachers and schools will benefit from this historic commitment to the arts in education.
JumpStart Theatre Press Coverage:
Thanks to all of our partners and supporters on JumpStart Theatre:
- iTheatrics
- Music Theatre International
- ArtsWave
- Ohio Arts Council
- The Greater Cincinnati Foundation
- Daniel and Susan Pfau Foundation
- Anonymous donation in collaboration with Community Arts Initiatives
- All of the individual donors
Coming up in the next issue…
- Introducing JumpStart to the students!
Please feel free to share this link with anyone interested in learning more about the JumpStart Theatre program, we’d love to keep them up-to-date on our exciting progress! If you'd like to receive updates by email, contact Ginny Butsch at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org to be added to our mailing list.