Do you know a young person with an interest in creative writing and a story to tell? The Digital Playwriting Program at Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT) is a virtual, live-taught program for students interested in playwriting. Virtual classes for each school level (elementary, middle, and high) take place bi-weekly for six weeks with a YPT teaching artist on Zoom. Students will be able to craft their own play while supporting their fellow students in writing through constructive feedback and peer review.
Spring 2021 Workshop Schedule: February 22 – April 1, 2021
Elementary School students (Grades 3 – 5)
Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:30-4:15pm
Middle School students (Grades 6 – 8)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-4:15pm
High School students (Grades 9 – 12)
Mondays and Wednesdays, 4:15-5pm
Tuition for the 12-workshop series is $30, and KidFriendly DC readers can take 50% off with code ypt-kf50.
YPT is committed to making our programs accessible to everyone; to learn more about tuition assistance or for more information about this program, please contact our Programs Team at programs@yptdc.org.
Calling Rising 10th and 11th Graders : Apply to SAFER (Students Advocating for the Eradication of Racism)!
Applications are now open for YPT’s new after-school program for high school youth to expand the possibilities of storytelling and performance.
SAFER (Students Advocating For the Eradication of Racism) is a social advocacy and arts education program for 10th and 11th-grade students living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area who are committed to promoting racial justice in their communities through their collective creativity. Over the course of a school year, students will learn and practice the skills required to organize and galvanize their communities and will showcase those skills through a theatrical performance event.
All applications and letters of recommendation are due June 11, 2021. If selected, interviews will be held virtually the week of June 28.
About Young Playwrights’ Theater
Young Playwrights’ Theater is an award-winning arts education organization and theater company in Washington, DC. YPT inspires young people to realize the power of their own voices through high-quality arts education programming and productions. Learn more at yptdc.org.
This post is sponsored by Young Playwrights’ Theater, however, I only promote programs, places, and services that I genuinely believe in and think would appeal to KFDC readers.
On September 28, Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT) launches its Digital Playwriting Program, after-school virtual playwriting classes for young people. The Digital Playwriting Program is open to students in grades 3 – 12, who are interested in learning how to express themselves through playwriting and storytelling. YPT playwrights learn to create bold characters, imaginative settings, and thrilling action in their very own play with live instruction from a YPT Teaching Artist through video conference.
YPT is dedicated to providing accessible programming to all young people. Students and families have the choice of registering for any Digital Playwriting Program at the cost of $20, $15, $5, or $0 to ensure all students can attend with no financial barrier.
Classes take place on Mondays and Wednesdays, from September 28 to November 4, 2020, at the following times:
3rd to 5th Grade: 3:30pm – 4:15pm EST
6th to 8th Grade: 3:00pm – 3:45pm EST
9th to 12th Grade: 2:30pm – 3:30pm EST
And if you’re an adult looking to explore your own storytelling, YPT has classes for you, too! Step into The Playwrights’ Lab, YPT’s virtual courses for ages 18 and up, where adults can explore playwriting and provide constructive feedback to a group of supportive fellow writers. You’re never too old to be a young playwright!
Enroll in YPT’s playwriting programs today and learn more about all of YPT’s virtual programs as well as their digital curriculum and resources for educators at YPT’s Online Programs Page. For additional questions, contact Young Playwrights’ Theater at programs@yptdc.org.
About Young Playwrights’ Theater
Young Playwrights’ Theater is an award-winning arts education organization and theater company in Washington, DC. YPT inspires young people to realize the power of their own voices through high-quality arts education programming and productions. Learn more at yptdc.org.
This post is sponsored by Young Playwrights’ Theater, however, I only promote programs, places, and services that I genuinely believe in and think would appeal to KFDC readers.
As the school year comes to an end for students around the DC area, many parents are wondering how to keep their kids engaged and active this summer. Adventure Theatre is offering a great option: Digital Musical Theatre Summer Camps! And if the quality of their past onsite camps and wonderful stage productions for children are any indication, this will be an excellent way for kids to have fun as they learn new skills and interact with peers and instructors.
The camps are specifically created for an online and screen-based medium with a live teaching artist to guide kids step-by-step through the process of acting, music, dance, and improvisation. Students will explore their surroundings and create new worlds with the objects they have around them. They will dive into their individual characters and receive personalized attention from each teaching artist.
This new way of “going to camp” may seem odd, but there are benefits, too. There’s no traffic to contend with since you don’t need to drive kids there, classroom size is smaller than in-person camps, and they are now accessible to kids who may have lived too far from camp locations in previous years. Even more, as the camps are designed for kids to work independently from parents, they give you time to relax, work, and get other things done.
All camps are held Monday to Friday on the dates and times listed, with options for kids in Kindergarten through 12th Grade. Each camp is tailored to the age it serves through time commitments, goals, recommended screen-time, and subject material of the class.
Camp sessions, which are two and three weeks long, begin June 16 and run through late August. Online registration is now open — learn more and sign up your child today!
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*All images used in this post are screenshots from Adventure Theatre’s Zoom programs this spring, which garnered the following testimonials from parents:
“You were proactive, and stayed in touch with the students, set up classes, provided homework, communicated, every step along the way, whilst maintaining a certain amount of normalcy, which I recognize is great for our children, not just from a theatre perspective, but in their lives.”
“I just signed up our daughter again for the next acting course. She really liked it. Kudos to (the instructor) who did a great job.”
“It’s been great for my child to continue with conservatory and to maintain those connections. Thank you so much for making that work and to you and everyone at ATMTC for adapting to this unimaginable world we find ourselves in at the moment.”
This post is sponsored by Adventure Theatre, however, I only promote programs, services, and events that I genuinely believe in and think would appeal to KFDC readers.
[Note: This is a sponsored guest post contributed by the staff at Rochambeau, the French International School.]
“Start by closing your eyes…the intensity, power of laughter, the pleasure and the joy are incomparable and unforgettable. Open your eyes, cut the sound: the joy on their faces, the enthusiasm, friendships, exploration, total and absolute engagement: pure enjoyment,” advises Fréderic Tavernier, the Director of the Maternelle Preschool at Rochambeau The French International School.
For a teacher, this small experiment is a way of reminding us that preschool and kindergarten are all about fun. “For the child, play is a source and a vehicle for learning,” he insists. This principle is at the heart of France’s official Maternelle program and at the core of the curriculum taught at Rochambeau The French International School Maternelle for children ages 2 through kindergarten.
While Rochambeau offers a comprehensive education all the way to 12th grade, “Maternelle is an essential step in the journey of students to ensure their academic success,” emphasizes Frédéric Tavernier. It is a school where children will learn together and live together. Here they develop their oral language and begin to discover writing, numbers, art, sciences… in both French and English. They learn through play, reflection, problem-solving, practice, recall, and memorization.
This attention for the well-being of the child, with a curriculum adapted to their rhythm, ensuring a balance between academics and recreation, meets the recommendations of American specialists. In August, the American Academy of Pediatrics sounded the alarm in a report expressing concern about the decline in the amount of time devoted to play in the lives of toddlers. “From 1981 to 1997, children’s playtime decreased by 25%. Children three to 11 years of age have lost 12 hours per week of free time. Because of increased academic pressure, 30% of US kindergarten children no longer have recess.”
The Maternelle teachers have one central goal: to ensure that the children are excited to go to school to learn, gain confidence, and develop their personality.
“Mission accomplished,” say parents like Erika Aparakakankanange. “When my children are at Rochambeau, they have so much fun that they don’t always realize that they are learning things, and for children like mine, who are not native French speakers, it makes the immersion process much easier…I can honestly say that my boys like to go to school every day and that is one of the many things we love about Rochambeau.”
“What I like,” says another parent, Sabine Durier, “is that the school combines classroom work, where all activities are intentional, with moments purely reserved for free time, where they can be children before they are students.”
Quoting Montaigne, the French philosopher, Maternelle teacher Bénédicte Le Nouën Maurice notes that “a child is not a vase that you fill, but a fire that you light”, which you let grow. “It’s important to give children free time to play, to make choices. This free time is not a waste of time, quite the contrary! During these moments of freedom, the child thinks about what he could play; he can make choices, invent, create, reach out to others. Many skills are built during this time. The child must not always be waiting for instructions, he must be able to learn to think for himself, to make his own choices, to invent, to create… and for this he needs free time.”
Preparing Global Citizens
Beginning at the preschool level and continuing through 12th grade, all students at Rochambeau, the French International School receive regular, guided instruction in both English and French, and can start a third language as early as elementary school (Arabic, Spanish).
Students represent more than 80 nationalities and communicate in over 25 different languages. As the only accredited French school in the Washington, DC, area, Rochambeau proudly enrolls children without any knowledge of French until the 4th grade. Our adapted immersion program gives students the opportunity to be part of and benefit from this extraordinary community.
Graduates of Rochambeau go on to study at top universities in the US, Canada, UK, France, and all around the world. Students receive their US high school diploma at the end of 11th grade and the French Baccalaureate at the end of 12th grade. Starting in 2021, Rochambeau will also offer the IB dual language diploma.
Tours of the school are offered on Thursdays and Fridays on all three campuses — register for them here. For more information about Rochambeau, The French International School, visit the website.
This post is sponsored by Rochambeau The French International School, however, I only promote programs, places, and events that I genuinely believe in and think would appeal to KFDC readers.
This post is sponsored by the Washington Waldorf School, however, I only promote programs, places, and events that I genuinely believe in and think will be of interest to KFDC readers.
