by Patrick Torres, Middle and High School Program Director
Today, Theatre Action Project (TAP) had the pleasure of joining Goodwill’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) youth investment team for their staff retreat. They invited us to perform some of the material generated in our program at Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center, New Stages: Arts Empowerment for Juvenile Offenders. Ms. Florinda, Ms. Nitra and I performed a collection of monologues and poetry and fielded questions about strategies we use to engage the students. It was a wonderful time, and we were grateful to be invited to share our work with them. It is good to know that our programs are well-known in the community and it is truly exciting that they devoted a portion of their day to learning about us and our techniques. However, the best part of the day was the reminder that there are so many passionate, intelligent and creative people working all around this city on youth development.
I was very impressed with their programs and excited about identifying ways we can work together to better serve youth in our city, especially those involved in the Juvenile Justice System. I am always inspired by people who devote their time to helping youth achieve success, and today I am thankful I had the opportunity to meet this team!
And I would love to meet more of you who are out there working with youth. So, if you are reading this and we haven’t had the chance to meet each other, leave a comment or contact me here at TAP. I want to know what you are up to!
P.S. My favorite big hair is Conway Twitty’s.
See you at TAP’s Big Hair Country Fair on March 24th at the Salt Lick Pavilion! To buy tickets visit: TAP Big Hair. Proceeds benefit Theatre Action Project.
