As we prepare for the 2017 Annual Meeting in Austin, the Educators and Interpreters Affinity Group Committee is trying an experiment. We’re giving presenters who are chairing sessions with education and interpretation themes a chance to give readers a little more information about them – a teaser, if you will. We’ll share two to three sessions each week. We hope this will be helpful to prospective conference attendees and presenters alike. Please share your thoughts and comments with us!

(If you haven’t heard from us and you’d like to share a post on your workshop or session, drop a line to Sarah Jencks at [email protected])

 

Session: Sharing the Stage with Theaters and Schools
Thursday, September 7, 4:00-5:15pm
Chair: Ani Simmons, Education Programs Coordinator, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas, TX

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (TSFM) chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy.  Less than 5% of TSFM’s annual attendance (400,000) represents local participating students, partially because the assassination story is not included in Texas K-12 Social Studies standards and standardized tests.  As a result, the museum has recently shaped creative ways to engage teachers and local school districts through partnerships with area arts organizations.

In 2016, TSFM developed two distinct theater experiences for school-based audiences: 1) A local theater company initiated collaboration doing community outreach for a major play, aligned perfectly with TSFM’s interpretative content, and 2) TSFM and a local children’s theater co-developed a powerful one-act play shaped from TSFM’s oral histories, with strong support from our local school district.  Nearly 6,000 students were reached through these combined projects that would not otherwise have been served by TSFM.

“Sharing the Stage with Theaters and Schools” is a forum for candid discussion about these collaborations. Participants will share perspectives from all partners and including resulting benefits to students and community.  We will also outline ideas for adapting this innovative partnership framework for other communities and institutions.

Check out other sessions and workshops listed in our Annual Meeting Program Guide!