Educator

"Pages to Players" School Residency - Teaching Artist

Photo courtesy of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.

I had the great pleasure of working with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey as a Teaching Artist on two recent residency programs: at Glenwood Elementary School in 2011 (where I was Assistant Residency Director), and at the Forest Street School in 2010. These residencies brought a team of STNJ staff members and teaching artists to work with 5th-grade students on mounting their own abridged performance of Julius Caesar over the course of several weeks. These programs are incredibly popular with the children, and help develop and improve literacy and teamwork skills as well as student self-confidence. Learn more about the STNJ "Pages to Players" residency programs here.

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey - Education Intern

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Junior Corps 2010. © Joe Geinert

In the summer of 2010 I had the privilege of participating in the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Summer Professional Training Program as an Education Intern. My primary responsibility in this position was assisting the director of the Junior and Senior Corps programs. The Junior Corps (for ages 11-14) and Senior Corps (for ages 14-17) are summer intensives for young actors. These two- and three-week sessions meet five hours per day for five days per week, and culminate in a final Saturday performance of an abridged Shakespearean or other classic play.
Performances in 2010 included:

Love's Labour's Lost (Sr Corps)
The Ramayana, Part 1 (Jr Corps)
Macbeth (Jr Corps - pictured at right)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Sr Corps)

My duties included administrative assistance with these programs, as well as hands-on work in the classroom leading students in daily warm-ups, leading reading groups (where students read portions of The Taming of the Shrew or All's Well That Ends Well), assisting the director with rehearsals and scenework, leading monologue-coaching sessions, and leading voice classes.

Rutgers University - FIGS Instructor

In the fall of 2007 I participated in the First-Year Interest Group Seminar (FIGS) program at Rutgers University as a Peer Instructor (PI). I taught a 10-week course for 25 students interested in Theater Arts. FIGS meet once per week and are worth one credit, graded Pass/No Credit. The courses are designed to aid first-year students in a smooth transition into university life by providing them with a low-pressure atmosphere in which to explore potential majors and careers. Simultaneously the experience provides students with a network of other first-year students with a common interest, as well as a mentor in the PI. As a PI, I had to cover specified topics about first-year life (such as staying healthy at college and how to use the library) while successfully incorporating material specific to my Theater Arts topic.

View course syllabus.
View photo gallery.