Hello Beautiful People,
I’m thrilled to introduce you to the next person in our Movers & Shakers Q&A Series, Julie Woffington, who is the Executive Director of the Educational Theatre Association regarding JumpStart Theatre.
MM: Can you tell our readers a bit about JumpStart?
JW: JumpStart Theatre is our new pilot program to train educators to develop sustainable musical theater programs at underserved middle schools that do not currently offer theatre in the curriculum or after school. The program is based on a successful program that has already been run in New York City by our partners in this project, iTheatrics and Music Theatre International (MTI).
Beginning in the 2015/16 school year, we are piloting the program at three Cincinnati-area schools. The selected schools will make a three-year commitment. Each school will receive services and materials in the form of training, mentoring, and producing a full-scale show for their community. Students will be involved in every aspect of the production: performance, costumes, sets, and design. EdTA will also host a yearly JumpStart Theatre showcase, bringing participants together to share their work.
A designated teacher will lead the JumpStart school program using tools and resources provided by EdTA, including workshops led by nationally recognized master teachers in theatre education, dedicated program managers, access to a library of MTI’s Broadway Junior musicals, and a budget for the technical elements of the production such as costumes and props.
Throughout the process, we will also be conducting a research project, led by UCLA’s Dr. James Catterall, to measure its social and academic impact on the students and their community.
MM: What made you want to seek a career in theatre?
JW: I first started in theatre when I was 9 years old playing Snoopy in a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I loved the excitement and adrenaline of performing, and my experiences along the way gave me joy and confidence, and taught me great skills like discipline, humility, and risk taking. I actually went into a business career and worked for 20 years in the corporate world, but now have found a way to combine my personal passion and my organizational leadership skills at the Educational Theatre Association.
MM: Just for fun, what books are permanently on your bookshelf?
JW:I like nonfiction self-improvement books, like Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages.
MM: Just for fun, if you could play any role in any musical, what would it be?
JW:I have always wanted to play Leisl in The Sound of Music and auditioned 3 different times for that role. I’ve decided I’m just too short to be standing at the end of the line of seven children!
MM: What’s the best piece of advice you could offer to aspiring artists?
JW: When you audition and don’t get the part, you learn a valuable life lesson: that you don’t always get what you want in life, but don’t get discouraged, keep working harder, keep trying…and don’t always take it so personally.
MM: In a day when arts education programming is being cut in public education, what reasons would you give to communities and school boards and the public for preserving arts education?
JW: For one, the arts are defined as a core subject under federal law, similar to math, English, and other curricular academics. There is a framework for all of the arts as a rigorous academic subject (dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts) with the new National Core Arts Standards (nationalartsstandards.org), and we’re proud that EdTA was one of the organizations who led the development of the theatre component of the standards.
Based on our own survey of theatre education that we conducted with Utah State University in 2012, we found that:
• 99% of high school administrators agree that theatre programs help improve students’ self-confidence, self-understanding, and self-discipline
• 97% of school administrators believe that theatre helps increase students’ understanding of the world
Theatre integrates a wide range of knowledge and teaches the most valued 21st century skills of education—creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication. Plus a 2011 study found that a quality high school theatre program can provide positive, lifelong impact on life skills throughout adulthood, including self‐confidence, public speaking/communication, time management, empathy, problem solving, and leadership. These are skills that employers are looking for in future employees.
MM: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
JW: My first theatre teacher was Eileen Boevers, the late Artistic Director of Apple Tree Theatre in the Chicago suburbs. Eileen taught me acting and gave me great opportunities to perform and grow, but most importantly, her programs built my confidence.
Thank you, Julie! And Write Teacher(s) Readers, be sure to check out JumpStart Theatre.
Live, Love, Learn,