It's so great that more and more schools are looking into a stage craft class! Everyone' suggestions are terrific resources, but what I haven't seen mentioned yet is the legalities around minors working in the theatre. Your school district would not be the only one, who may not be aware that the Dept. of Labor and Industries says that any minor doing the type of labor we do in tech theatre (working at heights, working with 'hoisting equipment' (if you have a fly system), working with electricity, using power tools, building, and so on) may only do so in a bona fide vocational program, ie: a CTE class taught by a CTE certified teacher - everyone working with minors in tech theatre should be under the CTE umbrella.
I don't know about every state, but it shouldn't be hard for you (or your TD – kudos if your high school has a TD! – or your tech teacher, or a person from the industry, or whoever will be teaching the students) to get a CTE certificate. It's usually a case of proving that you have had 2000 – 3000 hours paid ("paid" is the key) work experience in your specialty (in this case in Tech Theatre), and taking a few courses at a local community college – some can be online. In some states, you are issued a conditional certificate that allows you to start teaching a CTE subject right away on the condition that you finish your courses within two years. I'm attaching Colorado's application (you also have to take two courses, basically on classroom management, as well as submit this proof of experience) as well as my own CTE Certificate for you to see. You can also visit
http://www.southseattle.edu/programs/continuing-education/cte/ to see Washington's CTE teacher training program (it's a bit more extensive than Colorado's requirements). Look for something similar in your state.
Another reason to have whoever teaches tech theatre to be CTE certified is – validation. That tech theatre is a vocational subject in and of its own – and when you think about it, it's also a STEM subject. School districts need to change their mentality that the Drama teacher (those of you who are specialists in literature, acting and directing) is also qualified to be teaching technical theatre. Join the bandwagon, and get your CTE certificate and help educate your admin.
Of course your state may vary in the requirements , but the bottom line is that
it's against L&I regulations to be teaching stagecraft without a CTE certificate. If your woodshop teacher is required to have a CTE certificate, so should you! Unfortunately, even school districts are not aware of this, and some that are ignore it. But Cover
Your Anatomy anyway - if a student gets hurt, you want to be able to say you did everything you could to be lawful.
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Beth Rand, EBMS
Educational Lighting Designer
School Theatre Operations Coach
www.PRESETT.org- LIGHTING INSTITUTE FOR THEATRE TEACHERS - ONLINE MINI COURSES (ask for complimentary syllabus)
- HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE OPERATIONS ONLINE COURSE FOR TEACHERS (ask for complimentary syllabus)
- HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE OPERATIONS BOOKS and COMPLIMENTARY ARTICLE DOWNLOADS
- THE ECLECTECH SHOPPE
beth@PRESETT.orgWestminster, CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-24-2019 13:40
From: George Ledo
Subject: Stage Crafts Class?
I agree with David. I very rarely design for high schools, but I've been around some, and read about them here, and found the same at several community and even four-year colleges. Regardless of the syllabus-on-paper, a tech theater class very often turns into just a work session for the current show. So all you "learn" is how to build the specific pieces you're assigned to build, and nothing else. And under the pressure of a deadline on top of it.
My two universities didn't do this, and the results were very noticeable. In grad school, I taught a one-semester undergraduate class split into two halves: first half was drafting for the stage (a real drafting class, not a design class), and the second half was what's usually referred to here as "stagecraft," or how the stage works, the various types of scenery, safety, some rigging, and so forth. It was all out of Parker and Smith's Scene Design and Stage Lighting, and what happened was that the students were able to learn a lot of material without the pressure of building a set on a deadline. Then, when it came time to do a lab (work in the shop), they knew the material.
There were separate classes, similarly structured, for lights and costumes.
All that material wasn't crammed together. And the students benefited from it.
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George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
www.georgefledo.net
Original Message:
Sent: 01-24-2019 12:41
From: David Simpson
Subject: Stage Crafts Class?
I always think it is wonderful when schools add courses in theatre. We are a universally undeserved discipline. A concern I have after reading your post was with your goal of having the class produce your sets for your production. I think it would be a missed opportunity to not have a class like this be focused on a learning as much about several aspects of theater production as possible, as opposed to just being a set construction class.
I have also found it difficult to get a large volume of work out of a single class period of set construction, unless you are in block scheduling or something like that. By the time attendance is taken, and you start up the shop and show students what they are tasked to work on that day, there is only about a half hour or so before clean up needs to necessarily occur. If groups are waiting for a TD or staff to come between and trouble shoot issues that arise (as they always do), this makes even less time on task. This make it difficult to make major progress. Something to consider while budgeting production schedules and course pacing.
~Dave
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David Simpson
Performing Arts Center Manager
East China Schools
East China MI
Original Message:
Sent: 01-22-2019 14:19
From: Elizabeth Austin
Subject: Stage Crafts Class?
Hello!
The school where I work is currently looking into adding a course in the Fine Arts that would blend shop and theatre. We are wanting to create a class that would be involved in designing and building the sets for our 4 productions per year. Does anyone have a class that's similar? What does it look like? Would you be willing to add a course description or syllabus?
We are also looking into awarding fine arts credits to students who are particularly involved in theatre after school (i.e. stage managers). Does anyone else do this? How does it work?
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Elizabeth Smoak
Theatre Teacher
Chattanooga TN
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