TETA Making a Difference - TheatreFest Programming

The response to a call for workshops for TETA TheatreFest 2016 has been overwhelming! It does not seem to be an issue with theatre teachers to share their props, their lessons, their opinions and most importantly their knowledge! Everyone knows that we will beg, borrow and steal (ideas) and we expect to share what we’ve learned through our experience as we stumble through our craft. I love learning and I love sharing with my theatre friends and colleagues. It is my hope that each and every one of you has taken the time to register for TETA TheatreFest 2016 in Dallas and will join us to celebrate the wonderful things we do to engage students, parents, and community members in an art that encompasses every creative form.

We are currently sitting at 202 scheduled workshops in every theatre discipline for our January conference and most of those workshops will be provided multiple times. These workshops will cater to elementary, middle school, high school and college/university teachers and will better prepare us all for sharing what we learn with the students who enter our classroom doors. We have workshops for students in acting, technical theatre, design, movement, auditioning and so much more. Some of our special guests this year will be Karen Kohlhaas, cofounder of the Atlantic Theatre Company, Broadway choreography Barry Busby, Broadway performer Michael Benjamin Washington and Julia Perlowski of the National Teacher Corps for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. to name just a few. We even provide an incredible experience for your fine arts directors! Please encourage those who oversee your subject area to attend the incredible workshops by the Texas Theatre Administrators Conference on Friday, January 29. This is a great opportunity for your leaders to see what other school districts are doing to support theatre education across Texas.

Plan to not only attend TETA but, to become an active participant. Everyone is busy and no one has time to donate to one more thing but...when we receive great advice, incredible training or make a connection that inspires us to create, we feel a sense of relief that someone else has had a similar experience or has a great idea to help us conquer that next big project. Join an advocacy group! Take the time to see what is happening in curriculum! Don’t just sit down in the bar and gripe about the issues! Take part in the process and make a real difference! Our schedule permits us to take part in the process of making a difference in theatre in our schools and communities. Plan to attend the All Convention Convocation and TETA Business Meeting on Friday. Know who your leaders are, the decisions they are making and how those decisions will affect you and your classroom. This is one of the areas where I failed in my leadership as a teacher. I was not as active as I should have been and I did not make myself available to participate. I shortchanged myself and my students by not learning what others were doing in their classrooms. Live and learn!

TheatreFest programming has been a huge challenge! Working with the hotel to line up rooms, times, furnishings, and so much more, is a project that I never thought I would do but, I work to help make the convention something I can be proud of and that will benefit the students and teachers in my district, across the state and beyond our borders to create an educational experience that will inspire, us all to “Dream Big! Make Magic! Make a Difference!” You can be a part of that dream by joining us on January 28-31, 2016 at TheatreFest at the Hyatt Regency, Dallas, Texas!

There’s Magic in the Theatre…

Greg Arp
Plano ISD Coordinator Speech & Theatre