Audience Engagement & Education

This is my third consecutive year teaching in the classroom (not counting the one year immediately after grad school). My journey to this work has been anything but traditional, which I think is one of the biggest benefits that I bring to the position I am in today. And not just content-wise as a theater teacher, but because of what I learned about audience engagement. My daily audience is my students; however, they're not the audience to whom I'm referring. Student engagement is important, of course, but so is engagement with the families and community outside of the school.

Audience engagement is important inside and outside the classroom

Dr. Joe Sanfelippo is the superintendent of Fall Creek School District in Wisconsin. His One Minute Walk to Work videos are a great resource for educators, but also a master class in leadership. In a recent Tweet, Dr. Sanfelippo talked about regularly connecting with parents, not just in the moments where we need them, or need to inform them. I've recently found how important that part of the job is. In the short time I have been in my current job, a number of parents have told me how much they appreciated hearing from me. Building those relationships is important for a child's education. I've taken steps this 3rd quarter to reach out to parents more often, but also emphasized the idea that Theatre is a communication between actors and audience. That skill is at the heart of my curriculum and surprisingly something in need of development in our society of advanced technology meant to bring us closer together. Just two weeks in now and already it seems as if students are creating with each other quicker and with less hesitation than in previous quarters. I hope this will lead to deeper collaboration by the end of our 10-week session.

At the high school, I hope to achieve my goal of expanding the student theatre program's social media presence will have long-term benefits. Our first gauge will be how well increased communication and engagement works with regard to ticket sales for the upcoming musical (Into the Woods - March 12, 13, 14). Perhaps from there, a link can be made to the transferable marketing skills developed in the theatre classroom.

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