BridgeUP Theater in the Schools
What is BridgeUP Theater in the Schools?
BridgeUP Theater in the Schools has a mission of increasing theater access and learning resources for 4th to 6th-grade students. The program selects and works with several local elementary and middle schools in Vermont and New Hampshire to offer a five-week residency program for teaching artists that supports the curriculum of the classroom by incorporating theater exercises and Shakespeare plays.
THE PROBLEM & PARADIGM
Why theater education?
Arts education in schools has consistently received reductions in funding and access as tightened budgets have forced schools to prioritize other subjects. Simultaneously, adult engagement with the arts has steadily declined. This is especially true in rural areas of the United States, where access to arts education and events are more limited.
This is despite the fact that we know that adults who reported having some childhood arts education are 2.4 times more likely to attend arts events than those who had none, and that arts education helps build well-rounded, emotionally intelligent individuals. Research has shown that arts education broadens understanding and appreciation of other cultures; supports social and emotional development; builds empathy, reduces intolerance, and generates acceptance; improves school engagement; develops valuable life, career, and interpersonal skills; and strengthens community and civic engagement.
THE APPROACH
The Play’s The Thing
Teaching artists with extensive experience earn a fair and competitive wage to work with classroom teachers at partner schools during the Spring residencies. They engage with the entire grade of students, from theater lovers to novices. During this time, students explore text, learn various acting techniques, history, and team building skills. In a final presentation of scenes from a Shakespearean play, the students display their work to their entire school.
In addition to Spring programming, BridgeUP Theater in the Schools offers free and reduced-rate tickets to students’ families, as well as compensated transportation, to enable them to fully experience matinee shows at Northern Stage during the winter holiday season.
BridgeUP Theater in the Schools success so far
Over the course of the program’s existence, BridgeUP Theater in the Schools has provided a stage for 2,188 students and provided nearly 2,300 free and reduced-rate professional tickets for the families of those students, all while employing 74 teaching artists at competitive pay rates.
The impacts of the program at each school has been widespread, with students’ families and teachers reporting back growth in confidence, social-emotional competency, and positive behaviors in the classroom.
94% of schools that BridgeUP Theater in the Schools have operated in have remain in the program, recognizing the academic and interpersonal benefits that the curriculum makes.
