MAR
18

What My Theatre Students Told Me

By Kerri Glynn 

Kerri started her theatre career as a child actress in local theater productions, but after running into Meryl Streep as a drama major at Vassar College, she quickly changed her major and decided to pursue teaching instead.  She started by creating a drama program in a middle school before moving to the high school level, where she created a four-year acting program, participated in multiple drama competitions, joined the International Thespian Society, and produced five to seven productions a year. 

I don’t need to tell you — it’s a tough time for both students and teachers these days.  So many teens suffer from depression and anxiety, dealing with daily pressures while wondering what the world will be like by the time they’re adults.  At the same time, many teachers feel burned out with understaffed schools, inadequate salaries, and administrators who fail to support them.

While a theatre program is not a panacea, it offers so much more than the audience’s applause.  When I started teaching in 1971, I created the first drama club for my middle school.  Years later, I transferred to the high school, and many of my early students that I had worked with in middle school helped me start a drama program there.  Many of these students became lifelong friends, and I still communicate with them and other of my former students on social media.  So when I recently shared a remembrance on Facebook and asked them what they got out of being involved in theatre when they were in school, I was amazed how many responses poured in!  I heard from more than 40 “kids” who answered with the perspective of being able to look back, now as adults, at their time in my school drama program.

Needless to say, I was deeply touched to hear from so many, and I’m happy to share with you what some of these former students had to say.  I hope that you can find inspiration in their words to realize that all the struggles you face and all the sacrifices you make are worth it.  Like Pioneer Drama says, you are Touching Lives Through Theatre...  Together™ — and making a far bigger impact than your students even know.

JESSICA:  Our theatre program was the most valuable high school community that I was part of.  The confidence it inspired is something I still draw on regularly.  Being able to think on my feet, improvise, listen, react, and speak has been useful in every job and relationship I’ve ever had.  I believe that people greatly underestimate the life skills that a theatre program offers.  If you can stand up in from of your whole school at age 16 while wearing a funny costume and doing a song and dance, I truly believe you can do anything.

CARRIE:  Your theatre classroom was a safe place — a place where we could share laughter and tears.  It was also a creative outlet where we could get a break from our other classes with all their pressures.  Being part of an acting program forces you to work cooperatively and take direction and criticism from others while working as a team.  It also made me a more critical literary thinker, helped me analyze texts and improved my writing — quite impressive for a math major.

ALLEGRA:  Public speaking, memorization, improvisation, confidence, and even empathy are just a few of the life lessons I learned in your theatre program.

SARA:  Theatre taught us how to express ourselves clearly through words and bodies and voices.

KATE:  Yours was a class of inclusion, even in a school district that wasn’t always inclusive.

SHARON:  In high school, the only time I truly felt alive was on that stage.  It was the escape I needed.  Places I explored showed me how much more to life there truly was.

KIMBERLY:  You gave us a place to explore, to feel seen and heard and valued and loved.

GREG:  You always took the time to get to know each kid and make each one feel special and valued.  Your nurturing gave me the confidence to pursue show business as a career.  Today I am a working actor, writer, and director.  I don’t think many teachers realize the impact and influence they have.

DANIELLE:  I think about something from your class every single day of my life.  Theatre is a cornerstone of who I am, even if I’m only a consumer of it.  And you helped foster that.

So to all the theatre teachers out there, you really are making a difference in your students’ lives — far beyond their moments on stage — that they can only begin to understand right now.