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  • 1.  London trip with students

    Posted 03-02-2015 21:00
    Have you taken a trip to London or any other homes of great theatre and, if so, what educational justifications did you provide to your administrators? ------------------------------ Cathy Swain-Abrams Teacher, Drama Director Olentangy Local School District Lewis Center OH ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: London trip with students

    Posted 03-03-2015 06:24
    Hi! I have twice taken students to the Edinburgh Theatre Festival in August, and I highly recommend it. Nearly 500 shows to choose from in two weeks and a fabulous city to boot. And inexpensive if you stay at hostels. I did not need to justify beyond "what a cool experience" but you might remind people that we take art students to museums and musicians to concerts, so a trip to professional theatre is no different, if just a bit more complicated to organize! All artists learn from the professionals or historical greats in their professions, and theatre is meant to be seen, not just read. Good luck! ------------------------------ Elisabeth Ledwell Falmouth MA ------------------------------
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  • 3.  RE: London trip with students

    Posted 03-03-2015 08:36
    I have been lucky enough to travel overseas with students for a few years now and first trip was called "Theatre in London" through a Company called EXPLORICA, whom I still use today. On the 8 day trip, in addition to sightseeing, we saw 2 shows in the West End and had an educational workshop at The Globe Theatre (highlight!). We were also able to purchase tickets for a show at the GLOBE while we were there and the experience was amazing! (Tickets are extremely affordable for the Globe, 5-10 pounds). The educational value of the Globe theatre should be justification enough as it covers so many areas of study. Our teachers run the trips off regular school times (summer, and spring break, etc.) and since Explorica carries its own insurance, it is not necessary for approval, technically. I still go though the Board, however.  I hope that helps a little.

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    Charles Miller
    West Creek NJ
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  • 4.  RE: London trip with students

    Posted 03-03-2015 09:12

    Hi Cathy,

    I studied theatre in London for five months during college, and was overwhelmed by the academic resources available! Many renowned theatre organizations provide educational experiences and resources that you may find valuable. Here's a short list:

    National Theatre - publicly funded and probably the best resource for programs and justification

    Royal Shakespeare Company - speaks for itself!

    Donmar Warehouse - a campus of publicly- and privately-funded theatre and visual art

    There is also tons of academic research and literature detailing the academic and developmental benefits of studying abroad that may also be helpful.

    I hope this helps! Studying abroad is one of the best experiences a person can have - good luck!
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    Adrianna Boris
    Membership Services Specialist
    Educational Theatre Association
    Fairfield OH
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  • 5.  RE: London trip with students

    Posted 03-03-2015 09:28

    Cathy, I took students to England and Scotland. Our trip included attending a production of the Royal Shakespeare Company, visiting Shakespeare's birthplace, etc. London itself had a whole new set of adventures like the Globe etc. Our trip was not during the school year so justification was not needed, however our admin recognized the theatre history aspects and the opportunity to work with other theatre venues etc. For many students, this was a once in a lifetime trip- but it opened minds to greater possibilities forever. For some students, the trip was inspirational and led them to pursue international travel and occupations. For all, a new appreciation of theatre and life long support of the arts.


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    Jennifer Morgan-Beuchat
    Valley Falls KS
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  • 6.  RE: London trip with students

    Posted 03-03-2015 09:30
    I have taken two trips with students to London. My most recent was last summer. I have traveled with both Explorica and EF student travel. If you pair up with a student travel group, they will usually send a representative to partner with you and help smooth things out with administration and the board. They can often answer questions that we as teachers don't have the answers to: insurance, liability, etc. I will often take my proposed itinerary and find all of the educational components. I go through and do a common core highlights page for my admin. How does this trip cover not only my performing arts standards, but how does it fit in with Social studies and ELA. My friends in other departments helped me out with that as well. It was also handy for me to seek out another teacher in the school who runs such trips for her department. She was able to give me an insight into what the administration had asked for in the past. Good luck and I hope you have fun!

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    Regina Hartman
    Woodbourne NY
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  • 7.  RE: London trip with students

    Posted 03-04-2015 08:05

    Hi, we take students to the UK every other year for a partnership we have with another school. It is very affordable for us as we house students with host families while we are there. Essentially we only pay for airfare and entry to any of the places we go to (Tower of London, The Globe, various castles, etc). We are principally there to put on a collaborative production so we do not spend tons of time sight seeing and the like but the experience is fantastic because they get to know what it's like to actually live in the UK by having host families. These partnerships are hard to come by though- I've yet to find anyone else who does something similar.

    But for what it's worth- taking your students to another country simply for the cultural experience is well worth the work.

    Tori

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    Victoria Kesling Councill
    Chapter Director - VA EdTA/ Virginia Thespians
    Theatre Director- Fine & Performing Arts Department NKHS
    Artistic Director - NKHS Trojan Theatre
    Artistic Director - Kent England Exchange Production
    Virginia Commonwealth University BFA Theatre Education, BFA Art Education '08
    University of Houston - MA in Theatre Candidate '16

    "Love the art in yourself and not yourself in the art." - Konstantin Stanislavski
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  • 8.  London Theatre Tour

    Posted 03-04-2015 13:37

    Hi Cathy,

    In order to get educational buy-in from my school, I chose an England tour that included more than theatre.  We not only visited the Globe Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon, and saw several shows, but we visited several art museums, and locations like Bath and Stonehenge.  There was a little something for everyone.  We used EF Tours and they were FANTASTIC, even sending me on a pre-tour trip to Rome several months before to see how they run their tours.  Every detail was in place and I just got to enjoy the tour.  The theatre kids were happy, but so were the visual arts and history students, and the school was satisfied that the time was well-spent.  We did the Best of Britain tour, but they have one that is for London Theatre.  They also have several that do London and Scotland and/or Ireland.  Good luck!

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    Kelly Goley
    Charlotte NC
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