Full STEAM Ahead!

by Patrick Torres, Middle School and High School Program Director

This week, a few of us on staff will be attending the Conference for Community Arts Education in Dallas, put on by the National Guild For Community Arts Education. When we attended this conference last year, we were involved in several discussions with our colleagues across the nation about our desire to turn STEM into STEAM by making the case that the Arts are an essential addition to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math for student success in the 21^st Century.

I am very excited to continue this conversation at the conference this week to assess our success in adding the arts to STEM over the past year. And just this morning, I came across this article! It looks like our efforts are picking up national momentum. If you take a minute to read the article, you will find some very interesting links and be given an opportunity to sign a petition in support of STEAM.

I believe the arts are essential to student success in the 21^st Century, and I hope you will lend your support to this effort.

New Stages Takes Flight

by Patrick Torres, Middle School and High School Program Director

The New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble met for the first time last night, and it was great. The participants were funny, insightful and honest as they offered stories from their lives and spoke about what they hoped audiences would learn from the original piece they will create this year:

• Do not judge people by how they look.
• People who have been through the system can be successful.
• Everyone has their faults.
• We are people who have made bad decisions but are working to be better.
• Don’t get it twisted. You don’t know what you think you know.

If last night is an indication of what is to come over the next year, then we are all in for an excellent ride as we support these youth in the creative process. At different times in our two hours together, I felt challenged and inspired and so happy. And this morning I thought about how the new name of our organization, Creative Action, really does capture the essence of all of our programs, especially the New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble:

These youth will not only develop their creativity, but use it to push themselves forward, to change their community, and to challenge the way audiences see them. Their potential is limitless, and I promise to keep you informed on our progress!

The New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble is for students between the ages of 14 and 20 who have been released from the juvenile detention system. The Ensemble will together to create original plays about their experiences and will tour their shows and perform for more than 2,000 Austin area youth at schools and churches annually. A social worker will be a part of the program which will meet twice weekly at a halfway house. Youth members of the New Stages Youth Ensemble will receive compensation for their creative work with the program.

UPDATE: Theatre Action Project is now Creative Action. Read more about our name change.

Food for Thought

by Patrick Torres, Middle School and High School Program Director

The staff here at Theatre Action Project returned from our annual retreat at Mo Ranch on Tuesday. We all look forward to the retreat as a time to get away from the hustle and bustle of the office so we can plan our upcoming year, reflect on the success of the past year, and enjoy each other’s company.

One of the aspects of the retreat that is becoming a tradition is the way we handle meals while we are away. About two weeks before we leave, our Executive Director, Karen LaShelle, divides the staff into teams and assigns each team a specific meal and some descriptive words the meal should convey when it is served. For example, I was on the breakfast team this year, and the words we were given were:

• Soft
• Purple
• Unforgettable.

I know you are all wondering what a soft, purple, unforgettable meal looks like…well here you go:

After we get our assignments, we all scramble to have secret meetings to plan our meals. And it should be known that we are a pretty competitive crowd! Each team works really hard to make the best meal possible. At the retreat, when we sit down to eat together, it is really fun to discover the words that were assigned to each group and how creative they were at matching their words. But, of course, these meals go far beyond competition. They serve as a reminder that we are all a team – that we all work in service of each other so that we can better serve our students. We feed each other. And on the practical side, the meals and snacks keep us energized so we can spend time thinking of all the brilliant things we are going to accomplish in the year to come.

 

Hammers and Nails

by Patrick Torres, Middle School and High School Program Director

I recently attended the Texas Juvenile Justice Summit, a week-long conference for people who work with court involved youth. It was an incredible experience to be among so many people who are working hard to help young people make more positive decisions and overcome the roadblocks they experience on their path to healthy relationships and bright futures.

I was the only person attending the conference from an arts organization – which was actually great! Everyone I connected with was very impressed with Theatre Action Project’s dedication to working with these youth and expressed their confidence in the New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble to affect change in the lives of these students. I sought out and soaked up every bit of knowledge from the Probation Officers, Casework Managers, Detention Guards and Social Workers who I had the pleasure of meeting. During the conference, one thing became abundantly clear:

TAP’s work to intervene in the lives of youthful offenders begins far before they get involved in the court system. As an entire team of staff, teaching artists, volunteers, etc., working to achieve our mission of activating the academic, social and emotional development of young people we are giving the all of our students the tools they need to live healthy and productive lives.

This realization hit me during an inspiring keynote address by Dr. Steve Parese. During the speech, he stated, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

In childhood education is essential to diverting youth from the system. One simple statement, he affirmed all of the work we do here: Every effort we make as a company is to equip students with the tools they need to succeed, so they have a variety of tools to access in the myriad of situations they will encounter in their lives. This starts the moment we step into any classroom to serve our youth no matter what their age. Another affirmation of TAP’s work came through one of the refrains of the conference: Early childhood education is essential to diverting youth from the system.

So, to truly impact the level of juvenile crime in Austin, we must continue to ensure our Elementary and Middle and High School Programs are functioning as a team. One of the most shocking tidbits of information I learned at the conference was that the state estimates the number of prison beds they will need by assessing how many 3^rd grade students are unable to read.

So this is the work we do. From our Pre-K classrooms all the way through our New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble, we are committed to giving students tools to navigate this tricky world. We teach them there is no need to use a hammer when glue will do just as well. And we know that if we give them the best variety of tools possible, the community they build for us will be something to behold.

Read more about the New Stages Youth Theatre Ensemble and support received from Impact Austin.

Summer Pageant in the Park 2012 in Photos

Theatre Action Project’s Summer Pageant in the Park  on  June 23rd was an explosion of color, giant puppets and fun parade elements. Elementary students, their families, TAP Teaching Artists and staff marched in celebration of How Our Food Grows.

Here are just  a few photos  from behind the scenes leading up to Pageant day. We invite you to visit our Facebook and Flickr pages to view many more fun photos. We also invite you to share your Pageant photos with us. Email us at maryalice@theatreactionproject.org.

Cassie Swayze, left and Patrick Torres, right prepare for the event. Caroline Reck, center on Pageant day.

Happy Teaching Artists, Aron Taylor, left, Christin Davis, and Noel Gaulin lead the cheers in the parade.

Winter, Spring, and Summer seasons at Summer Pageant in the Park.