I had the pleasure in attending, what sure is to be an annual event, the EdTA's National Arts Advocacy Day! After attending Arts Advocacy Day in March this was another great way to let my representatives know how important Theatre Education is in our schools!
It was exciting to go back to the Capitol and experience this event with one of my incoming Chapter Directors. We had two appointments with NY representatives, two of which had thespians troupes in their districts and representatives who supported the arts! For the representatives we were unable to get in touch with, we still went to their office to drop off a folder of information on the important of Theatre Education in our schools.
The biggest take away for me was how important it is to get the students also involved in advocacy. So in partnership with my Chapter Directors, we'll be setting up ways for our students to advocate for Theatre Education back in NY and challenging ourselves to keep in touch with our representatives. One of our representatives, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez will be having an Arts Day in September and we were more than happy to volunteer for the event as well as our student leaders! Being a student of theatre, I asked the Michigan Thespians in attendance, if I could also go to their meetings too, to show how it's impacted my life and being an alumni of theatre education in Michigan schools! Not only was I advocating in my current state of New York but also advocating in my family's home state of Michigan!
Many thanks to Jim Palmarini for planning the event in sponsorship with Americans for the Arts.
Check out some of the photos from my time at the Capitol!
