Performance Standard #8
Advises students in the career planning process and teaches employability skills as indicated in the program core competencies developed by industry and education
Embedded Files
Pittsrec.pdfEvidence 1: Letter from former student Shannon Pitts
Description: Ms. Pitts is a former student and currently works for Blue Whale Studios in Atlanta; in this letter, she discusses her experience in my program and talks about the skills she acquired that still influence her work today.
Analysis: Of the skills and attitudes I want students to leave with, work ethic is one of the most important, if not the most important. Talent accounts for very little of success in the industry; hard work is by far a greater predictor of success. Ms. Pitts was one of those remarkable students that had found a passion and followed it with an uncommon fervor. By providing her the atmosphere in which research and experimentation allowed her to learn and create, I was able to help her focus that passion into an impressive work ethic that she brought to each production. She was able to attend the Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles, and has since worked on numerous productions, including the most recent Jurassic World; I believe that work ethic she developed in high school will continue to serve her well into the future.
AGunnrec.pdfEvidence 2: Letter from former student Azaline Gunn
Description: In this letter, Gunn (recently the company manager at Spooky Action Theatre in Washington, D.C.), describes her experience in my program: "Through production after production, and hands-on assignments one after another, I grew into a stage manager under the eye of a mentor who never told me to stop auditioning and designing."
Analysis: Finding a student who is good at stage management is a rare thing, but I have been fortunate enough to work with several over my 17 years of teaching theatre. The combination of organization and people skills is usually an unusual find in high school students. In this case, Gunn was absolutely made for stage management- patient yet firm with others, and exceptionally meticulous in their organization. On top of this, they truly desired to work in theatre, and found their place as an SM. Over the years I worked with Gunn, I was able to provide opportunities as an actor and technician, yet it was stage management that kept calling them, so I was able to provide a number of opportunities to work on these skills. During their senior year, I started a youth-led theatre program for work during the summer; Gunn served as stage manager for a play we took to the Atlanta Fringe Festival- a task that called upon the need for careful detail regarding the logistics of interstate travel and multiple load-ins/load outs during the three day festival.
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