Blogs

Free money for theatre education (almost) Now that I have your attention, here’s what I want to talk about: federal funding for theatre education programs. That’s right—money from Washington that can actually come directly to your program. This is not a fantasy. It’s real and it’s now. I’m talking about the American Rescue Relief Plan (ARP) that was signed into law in March. Embedded in the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package is the Elementary and Secondary Education Relief fund (ESSER) that represents an unprecedented level of financial support for public education. ESSER III, called that as it is the third round of federal funding intended to help ...

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) is looking for 20-25 theatre educators, currently teaching in the classroom, who would be willing to create ten model lesson plans illustrating the ways in which theatre education can teach social and emotional skills. Teachers accepted for the project will be given professional development in making clear connections between theatre instruction and social and emotional learning skills paired with a professional development intensive in assessment for learning. The time commitment will include a one hour kick off meeting, any time needed to create or re-work ten existing lesson plans, plus a total of four hours ...

When it comes to deciding where to go for your college education, you may be torn between two or more top universities and colleges for students. You probably also realize that you need all of the top education that you can get since this will mean a fantastic and interesting experience for you. So what is the best option for you? You know which one you want to go to so you should narrow your search down as much as possible. But which two or three tops universities and colleges for students are the best choice for you? There are many ways to narrow down the search for the best education for your kids. You can visit each of the universities and colleges ...

On February 2, 2020, I was proud to be one of a panel of presenters in a Theatre Town Hall along with Julie Theobald and Jim Palmarini of EdTA and Alexis Truitt of the American Alliance for Theatre in Education. The town hall was both a listening tour and an introduction to Arts Are Education , is a new national campaign advocating for funding, maintaining, and growing PreK-12 arts education programs in the 2021-22 school year and beyond. Arts Are Education is i nspired by the “Arts Education is Essential,” statement released last April, sponsored by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS), an EdTA partner, Arts Are Education encourages ...

It has been a year like no other in education. As a theatre educator, like all other teachers, the pandemic demanded that you pivot your instruction and do your best to ensure meaningful learning outcomes for your students -- whether in a virtual, hybrid, or altered classroom environment where safety was the highest priority. Performance opportunities for students, so fundamental to the art, needed to be reimagined online and you and many of your fellow theatre teachers did that, creating innovative theatrical stories that engaged both the students and their home-bound audiences. Thank you for that — you are heroes! The challenges ahead Now, as the 2020-21 ...

One of the main goals for our Theatre Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on different members by conducting a simple interview. Our next Spotlight is Lindsay Brustein, an EdTA professional member and the theatre teacher for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. Lindsay has been involved in our Community for several years and contributes encouragement, advice, and interesting questions to inspire conversation. Do you have any tips for new theatre teachers? ...

One of the main goals for our Theatre Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on a different member every other week by conducting a simple interview. Our next Spotlight is Julie Hanisch, the English/Drama teacher at Mukwonago High School in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, home of Thespian Troupe 642. Julie has been exchanging ideas and advice in the Open Forum for a couple years now and has a clear passion for creating student leaders and providing a variety of theatrical opportunities. Why do you ...