Open Forum

To Attend Chapter Events or not, to have your students compete for awards and/or adjudication feedback from trained adjudicators, that is the question? 
I know that there are those Theatre educators/Troupe Directors who feel no need to take kids to events. I know that some school districts say "NO TRAVEL with students." There are some teachers who just don't do weekends with students. I understand. I understand. 
Having just finished each weekend in April 2023 as an in-person adjudicator and/or teaching artist for various Theatre festival events along with virtual adjudications for scholarships , one-act plays, Thespys for 10 chapters and EdTA, I have taught "Ace Any Theatre Audition" "Ensemble Creation in Classes, Casts, and Troupes" along with a myriad of other workshop titles.  I obviously believe in offering such events for middle/high school Theatre students and for engaging qualified and trained adjudicators and teaching artists who understand the educational Theatre world. Think about your Emerti members. I think that virtual adjudications will be much more accessible for some schools and will continue into the future. 
Positive feedback along with some tips for students to try for their next performances. I am in favor of Commendations and Recommendations Comments and yes rubric-based.  I also support that the student stay in the performance room to see others perform and return with at least 5 new script titles and share compliments for other performing/presenting students. 
I know that there are some Theatre educators who say they are doing enough for their students without traveling to festivals or they do not believe in competitions. These festivals offer connections-student to student, so that when they are in a college-level Intro to Acting, they see someone that they met in a workshop or saw perform and want to become an acting partner with someone who knows the demands of performance or presentations. Then later in the career world, they remember those connections, and usually work with people who know the collaborations which Theatre and the honor of Thespianism provides. 
If your students are newbies in the world of competitive Thespys, etc., perhaps work with your Chapter Director and Board to offer a Novice session for those newbies to learn. And Yes, I as a Theatre educator read each and every Share Sheet/Adjudication Sheet for the valuable inputs and any red flag negative comments that may not be received well by the student or student's parents. Yes, I let the Chapter Board know about any harshly stated comment and the judges' name. And yes reading adjudicators' comments was a class session in learning. 
By this post, I may be talking with those who participate and those who do not take students to events. And I will not change anybody's mind. I just know that the year I had 30 seniors who had been in my program for 4 years, and took part in many festivals and applied to every possible scholarship, that each one of those seniors received some amount of scholarship funds based on their performance/presentation talents. 

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Gai Laing Jones
EdTA Past President, ETF Board Member, CETA VP Membership, DTASC Advocacy Director, DTA Contributor, AATE Member, AACT Youth Committee Member, CSUEB Field Supervisor for Pre-Service Theatre Educators, Ojai Art Center Ex Board/Director of Youth Productions, Camp Bravo Instructor, SAG-AFTRA Member/Radio Plays Committee, Theatre Text Book Author, Theatre Inspirational Speaker
gai.jones@sbcglobal.net
gaijones2013@gmail.com
www.gaijones.com
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Gai, you are so right!  Attending festivals can be incredibly beneficial for students and their teachers.

The main reason that I became Chapter Director for North Carolina years ago is that I wanted my students to have a rich and supportive festival experience.

Social relationships are really important for teens, and it is difficult for them to judge the quality of the performances of those they know.  It is very hard for them to form personal criteria of excellence within the insular environment of their school theatre program.  Students may persist in the idea that their director only casts favorites or become upset when they think they deserve a part they didn't get, truly unable to see the qualities and skills the director saw in auditions.

There is something quite magical that takes place when teens have the opportunity to see students of their own age performing, following the same set of rules, with the same time limit, same slate requirements, etc.  Thespians can see problems that their director has been talking about.  That lock of hair blocking one eye looks stupid, not at all cute or edgy.  A clean slate really does set expectations for a good performance.  Gestures can be good, but waving one arm constantly does not work at all.  Nor does rocking back and forth.  Suddenly, those notes they've been getting from their teacher make sense. 

My students also loved the workshops.  As the sole theatre teacher in every school where I taught, I had no illusions that I knew everything, and I was always thrilled to hear reports back from my students about all they had learned.  When I taught in Florida, workshops were open to teachers as well, a policy I replicated here in North Carolina.  What a treat to get to learn something new! 

Going to festivals is expensive.  But I always thought it was well worth it for my students.         

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CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-04-2023 13:47
From: Gai Laing Jones
Subject: Wednesday's Wisdom Offered by EdTA Sage Emeriti Members

To Attend Chapter Events or not, to have your students compete for awards and/or adjudication feedback from trained adjudicators, that is the question? 
I know that there are those Theatre educators/Troupe Directors who feel no need to take kids to events. I know that some school districts say "NO TRAVEL with students." There are some teachers who just don't do weekends with students. I understand. I understand. 
Having just finished each weekend in April 2023 as an in-person adjudicator and/or teaching artist for various Theatre festival events along with virtual adjudications for scholarships , one-act plays, Thespys for 10 chapters and EdTA, I have taught "Ace Any Theatre Audition" "Ensemble Creation in Classes, Casts, and Troupes" along with a myriad of other workshop titles.  I obviously believe in offering such events for middle/high school Theatre students and for engaging qualified and trained adjudicators and teaching artists who understand the educational Theatre world. Think about your Emerti members. I think that virtual adjudications will be much more accessible for some schools and will continue into the future. 
Positive feedback along with some tips for students to try for their next performances. I am in favor of Commendations and Recommendations Comments and yes rubric-based.  I also support that the student stay in the performance room to see others perform and return with at least 5 new script titles and share compliments for other performing/presenting students. 
I know that there are some Theatre educators who say they are doing enough for their students without traveling to festivals or they do not believe in competitions. These festivals offer connections-student to student, so that when they are in a college-level Intro to Acting, they see someone that they met in a workshop or saw perform and want to become an acting partner with someone who knows the demands of performance or presentations. Then later in the career world, they remember those connections, and usually work with people who know the collaborations which Theatre and the honor of Thespianism provides. 
If your students are newbies in the world of competitive Thespys, etc., perhaps work with your Chapter Director and Board to offer a Novice session for those newbies to learn. And Yes, I as a Theatre educator read each and every Share Sheet/Adjudication Sheet for the valuable inputs and any red flag negative comments that may not be received well by the student or student's parents. Yes, I let the Chapter Board know about any harshly stated comment and the judges' name. And yes reading adjudicators' comments was a class session in learning. 
By this post, I may be talking with those who participate and those who do not take students to events. And I will not change anybody's mind. I just know that the year I had 30 seniors who had been in my program for 4 years, and took part in many festivals and applied to every possible scholarship, that each one of those seniors received some amount of scholarship funds based on their performance/presentation talents. 

------------------------------
Gai Laing Jones
EdTA Past President, ETF Board Member, CETA VP Membership, DTASC Advocacy Director, DTA Contributor, AATE Member, AACT Youth Committee Member, CSUEB Field Supervisor for Pre-Service Theatre Educators, Ojai Art Center Ex Board/Director of Youth Productions, Camp Bravo Instructor, SAG-AFTRA Member/Radio Plays Committee, Theatre Text Book Author, Theatre Inspirational Speaker
gai.jones@sbcglobal.net
gaijones2013@gmail.com
www.gaijones.com
------------------------------