Blogs

 

Community Tips: Venture Outside of the Open Forum

By Ginny Butsch posted 5 days ago
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This is one part of a  series of blogs  about maximizing your experience with our online Community, not only to help newbies get their bearings but to also help experienced users learn more and take the next steps, or assist others. Today, I'll tell you more about smaller, interest-based communities outside of the Open Forum . If you log in to your account on our website, head over to the "Community" tab on our blue navigation bar and drop down to "Browse Communities." There you will find an assortment of other groups that you may be interested in perusing.  If you see a blue "join" button next to the group title, it means you are welcome to join the group ...
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Important Information About the EdTA Board Election

By EdTA News posted 5 days ago
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Dear EdTA Members, We need to inform you that there was a flaw in the process of the EdTA Election that affected approximately 2% of the ballots. This error resulted in undelivered ballots, multiple ballots sent to the same email address, and ballots being sent to one person while addressed to another.  To ensure the fairness and integrity of the results, it is necessary to void the existing votes and start over with a new vote. We want to give you full transparency of how this happened.  In diagnosing the root cause, we discovered the file of eligible voters contained the organizational email for a member when it should have contained the individual’s ...
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Mentor Spotlight: Linda Apperson

By Ginny Butsch posted 5 days ago
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Earlier this year, we launched a brand new Community program called Mentor Match . This unique online networking and career development tool is an EdTA members-only benefit that helps you find, connect, and share experiences with others. Our Mentor Match spotlight will feature some of the incredible mentors who are available to help you accomplish your professional goals.   Our current featured mentor is Linda Apperson , a stage management expert. Linda has stage managed over 3,000 performances, taught stage management at Stanford and internationally, and even wrote a book on the topic. How long did you teach/have you been teaching? ...
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Tonya Hays Awarded the 2019 Linda P. Wise Grant

By EdTA News posted 9 days ago
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EdTA has awarded the 2019 Linda P. Wise Grant for Theatre Educators to Tonya Hays, theatre teacher and director of Thespian Troupe 4779, at Gulfport High School in Gulfport, Mississippi. The grant is awarded to an EdTA professional member and theatre educator who presents a plan for an in-class program in need of financial support. Hays will develop a Devised Theatre Project with her students. This sort of theatre does not include pre-written scripts and is based on an ensemble’s research and development of an original topic. Students explore a topic, conduct interviews, then develop a script for performance. This grant will allow Hays to purchase props, ...
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EdTA Model Lesson Plan Project Provides Skill Building Opportunity to Teachers

By EdTA News posted 17 days ago
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For teachers who wish to boost their lesson planning skills, EdTA is launching a new professional development program: The EdTA Model Lesson Plan Project .  Twenty-five teachers will be chosen from an all-call the field to receive professional development in standards-based lesson planning and best practices in assessment. Then, using the EdTA lesson plan template, each team member will produce 12 model lesson plans.  This project expands EdTA’s history of working with teacher leaders to create robust, standards-aligned materials. Previous initiatives and partnerships have produced the National Theatre Standards, the Opportunity to Learn Standards, the ...
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Eight Schools Invited to Perform on Main Stage at International Thespian Festival

By EdTA News posted 19 days ago
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Eight schools have been invited to perform on the main stage at the nation’s leading high school theatre festival. The invitations are based on productions that were adjudicated last fall; three more will be invited this spring. (Complete list of schools and shows to-date follows.) The International Thespian Festival, (ITF) produced by the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), celebrates student achievement in the performing arts. It’s expected that more than 5,000 high school drama students and their teachers will come together for a weeklong immersion in workshops; interaction with colleges, industry leaders, and Broadway professionals; ...
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Community Tips: Teaching Artist Directory

By Ginny Butsch posted 19 days ago
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This is one part of a  series of blogs  about maximizing your experience with our online Community, not only to help newbies get their bearings but to also help experienced users learn more and take the next steps, or assist others. Today, I will tell you part about a new part of Community, the  Teaching Artist Directory . This directory was created to help EdTA members find theatre professionals to enhance their students’ classroom experience or easily locate workshop leaders and speakers for events. There are currently 100 teaching artists registered in the directory, experts on topics like choreography, stage combat, improvisation, technical theatre, ...
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Mentor Spotlight: William Myatt

By Ginny Butsch posted 27 days ago
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Earlier this year, we launched a brand new Community program called Mentor Match . This unique online networking and career development tool is an EdTA members-only benefit that helps you find, connect, and share experiences with others. Our Mentor Match spotlight will feature some of the incredible mentors who are available to help you accomplish your professional goals. Our current featured mentor is William Myatt . William was inducted into the International Thespian Society in high school and has been heavily involved in every aspect of theatre education ever since. He has served in a variety of leadership roles, including Iowa Chapter Director ...
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JumpStart Theatre Update 54: An Early Christmas Gift

By Ginny Butsch posted 27 days ago
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A program designed to build sustainable musical theatre programs in underserved middle schools that currently have none. This is a series of monthly updates about the  JumpStart Theatre  pilot program launched in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you'd like to receive JumpStart Theatre updates by email, contact JumpStartTheatre@schooltheatre.org. To view previous updates,  click here. An Early Christmas Gift for Cincinnati The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati offered their JumpStart Theatre teachers and students complimentary tickets to see their production of A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Taft Theatre ...
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Community Tips: Mentor Match

By Ginny Butsch posted 12-17-2019
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This is one part of a  series of blogs  about maximizing your experience with our online Community, not only to help newbies get their bearings but to also help experienced users learn more and take the next steps, or assist others. Today, I will tell you part about a new part of Community, the Mentor Match program. This unique online networking and career development tool is an EdTA members-only benefit that helps you find, connect, and share experiences with others. As you're contemplating resolutions for the new year, think about a professional goal you'd like to accomplish. Next, use Mentor Match to find an experienced Mentor that can help you achieve ...
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Community Spotlight: Summer Rickman

By Ginny Butsch posted 12-17-2019
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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 Summer Rickman, an EdTA professional member and the Director of Theatre Arts at Hobbs High School in Hobbs, New Mexico. Summer has been participating in the Community for years, earning Bronze Level contributor status, but she has also taught workshops at our National Conference. Her positive and practical advice is always ...
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Get to Know the 2020 Board Candidates

By EdTA News posted 12-16-2019
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 The slate of candidates for the 2020 Educational Theatre Association Board of Directors election has been finalized. The filing period for ballot petitions has expired without any petitions having been filed. Thus, the ballot will carry the names put forward by the EdTA nominating committee for two director seats. The ballot will also feature proposed changes to the code of regulations. You can read more about the proposed changes in the  2020 Election Library . The election will begin on January 15 by way of online balloting. All members in good standing as of January 3 will be eligible to vote. Members will receive voting instructions via email on ...
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Put Professional Learning at the Top of Your 2020 To Do List with Theatre Educator Pro Winter Webinars

By EdTA News posted 12-16-2019
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Just in time for your New Year’s resolution list, EdTA is announcing a winter line up of live professional learning webinars scheduled to begin in January. All webinars will be recorded and archived for access “on demand” whenever you wish. The webinars will become part of a growing library of professional learning opportunities on the new learning center site,  Theatre Educator Pro .  Education Manager Cory Wilkerson has been surveying members through exit polls and at events to determine topics for winter and spring.  “I’m seeing requests for professional learning opportunities in theatre for social issues and also theatre for young children” says Wilkerson.  ...
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Community Tips: Your Contributions

By Ginny Butsch posted 12-03-2019
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This is one part of a  series of blogs  about maximizing your experience with our online Community, not only to help newbies get their bearings but to also help experienced users learn more and take the next steps, or assist others. In this blog, we'll talk about locating and reviewing your own contributions within the Community. Let's say that you've been participating in the Community for several months, and you want to take a look back at a question you posted early on and review the responses again. Or maybe you're curious and just want to know how many times you've posted in the Community.  Both are easy to find through your Community profile. Log ...
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Teaching Artist Spotlight: Rosie Best

By Ginny Butsch posted 12-03-2019
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We recently launched a new Community program called Teaching Artist Directory . This directory is an EdTA members-only benefit that helps you find skilled theatre professionals to lead workshops in your classroom or at an event.  Our latest featured teaching artist is Rosie Best , an EdTA professional member and the Founder/Artistic Director of Issue Box Theatre . In addition to performing and teaching, Rosie is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with a passion for using theatre as a tool to make the world a better place. You can learn even more about the incredible work Rosie is doing by visiting her Teaching Artist Profile .     What ...
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Write Your Way to Washington--Democracyworks essay competition now accepting entries

By EdTA News posted 12-02-2019
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    The Educational Theatre Association’s 12th annual Democracyworks essay competition, with funding support from Concord Theatricals, is now accepting entries. The winner will receive $1,500 toward expenses to attend the National Arts Action Summit (formerly Arts Advocacy Day) in Washington, D.C., March 30-31, 2020, plus $250 cash. The prompt for this year’s contest was inspired by 2019 EdTA National Conference keynote speaker Jane Chu, former chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts, who spoke about how theatre helps create a culture where students can feel like they belong to a community that honors different perspectives and while bringing ...
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Community Tips: Advice for New Theatre Teachers

By Ginny Butsch posted 11-26-2019
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There are undoubtedly a good number of you out there who are just beginning your career as a theatre educator. First of all, let us extend a sincere welcome and CONGRATULATIONS ! You have entered into one of the most rewarding (and at times, challenging) careers that exist. You are undoubtedly bursting with excitement while simultaneously feeling overwhelmed and wondering how on earth you are going to manage to keep all the balls up in the air. Have no fear, we’re here to help! As you delve deeper into the Community , you’ll find incredible resources, new friends from all over the world and answers to questions you didn’t even know you had. To start, here’s ...
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JumpStart Theatre Update 53: Graduate Expands Theatre Season

By Ginny Butsch posted 11-26-2019
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A program designed to build sustainable musical theatre programs in underserved middle schools that currently have none. This is a series of monthly updates about the  JumpStart Theatre  pilot program launched in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you'd like to receive JumpStart Theatre updates by email, contact JumpStartTheatre@schooltheatre.org. To view previous updates,  click here. Graduate Expanding Theatre Season Holmes Middle School's Jack and the Beanstalk Holmes Middle School, a 2018 JumpStart Theatre graduate, located in Covington, Kentucky, has been so successful producing four straight years of spring musicals that ...
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Community Tips: Digital Ribbons

By Ginny Butsch posted 11-19-2019
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This is one part of a  series of blogs  about maximizing your experience with our online Community, not only to help newbies get their bearings but to also help experienced users learn more and take the next steps, or assist others. In this blog, we'll talk about the digital ribbons on Community profiles. There are a plethora of digital ribbons available in the Community. They are used to highlight your: -Activity in the Community (Platinum MVM, Blogger) -Relationship with EdTA (EdTA Member, Thespian Alum, Donor, Attendee) -Awards or honors (Hall of Fame, Scholarship Recipient, Honor Chapter) -Participation in EdTA programs (Mentor, Mentee, Teaching Artist) ...
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Mentor Spotlight: Scott Wilson

By Ginny Butsch posted 11-19-2019
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Earlier this year, we launched a brand new Community program called Mentor Match . This unique online networking and career development tool is an EdTA members-only benefit that helps you find, connect, and share experiences with others. Our Mentor Match spotlight will feature some of the incredible mentors who are available to help you accomplish your professional goals. Our current featured mentor is Scott Wilson . Scott currently serves as the Vice President of the EdTA Board and on the board of Ohio Thespians, and has been heavily involved in the theatre education field for nearly two decades, even finding time to perform on stage in his community. ...
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