(New York, NY, February 4, 2008) Today, The Broadway League, the national trade organization for the commercial theatre industry, announced the recipients for the 2008 “League Educator Apple Awards.”

Now in its sixth year, the League’s Education Committee has honored educators, administrators, and school district leaders from around the country for their commitment to arts education, and their work in collaboration with League-member venues that present touring Broadway shows. Through this award, the League encourages the development of theatre education programs around the country, while helping to build a future generation of theatregoers.

“In honoring these educators with the League Educator Apple Award, we wish to recognize those who provide the essential link between young people and live theatre,” commented Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director, The Broadway League. “By incorporating theatre education into the classroom, these committed professionals have enriched the lives of their students and expanded their horizons by introducing young people to the wonderful world of Broadway theatre.”

This year’s award recipients have been recognized for their leadership and creativity, as well as their dedication in bringing arts education into the classroom. The 2008 recipients are Paul King, Director of Theater Programs, New York City Department of Education (nominated by 321 Theatrical Management and the Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee); Serena Coleman and Peggy Holmes of Amory High School in Amory, Mississippi (nominated by the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN); and Chris Maly, Patsy Koch-Johns, Joann Davis Yoakum and Kathy Marsgall of Lincoln High School in Lincoln, Nebraska; Vernon Miller and John Mangan of the Umonhon Nation Public School in Macy, Nebraska; and Mike Morris of Crete High School in Crete, Nebraska (Nominated by the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln, NE).
  
ABOUT THE RECIPIENTS

Paul King, Director of Theater Programs, New York City Department of Education

Paul King worked with the Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee to coordinate efforts with Grace Dodge High School in the Bronx, which had recently developed a Theatre/English class for selected students.  Because the Spelling Bee story focuses on children who don’t fit in, Mr. King recognized the need to bring this program to a classroom of exceptional students who need a place to fit in. Throughout the semester-long project, Mr. King oversaw all correspondence and coordination, and provided continuous encouragement for the collaboration, which allowed each student to bring their own sense of creativity to the project.  By developing this and other partnerships through "The Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts: Theater, Grades Pre-K-12," Mr. King and the Board of Education have established a true connection with the New York City Public Schools and the Broadway community by finding material in each show that best suits classrooms and educators’ already established curriculum. Mr. King provided the much needed cheerleading to remind everyone that what they were doing brought the thrill of live Broadway to children who had never experienced Broadway in any form.

Serena Coleman and Peggy Holmes, Amory High School, Mississippi

After bringing students to see touring Broadway productions at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, these teachers encouraged and led their students to use the lessons learned from observing professional theatre to create a high-quality musical for their community by putting on their own production of the same show.  Even though the high school is 125 miles away, they became the first high school group in the theatre’s 80-year history to be invited to perform a full-length musical on the Orpheum stage. The small community of Amory came together to raise the necessary funds to reconstruct Joseph for the huge Orpheum stage, which they performed for a crowd of over 2000. This unique opportunity allowed students to see hands on the challenges of a touring show. They experienced the re-building of sets and re-blocking of musical numbers due to the changes in sight lines, lights, acoustics and stage space. The ticket sales from Joseph allowed Amory High School to purchase microphones and rent costumes for future productions and USA Weekend gave the school the state award for Best High School Musical.

Chris Maly, Patsy Koch-Johns, Joann Davis Yoakum and Kathy Marsgall, Lincoln High School; Vernon Miller and John Mangan, Umonhon Nation Public School; and Mike Morris, Crete High School, Nebraska

These teachers collaborated with the Lied Center for Performing Arts and Time Warner Cable on the eighth annual Immersion Project in conjunction with the touring Broadway production of All Shook Up. Students from Lincoln and Crete High Schools collaborated with students from the Umonhon Nation public schools creating positive relationship building between students of different cultures. One such interactive activity allowed for the Umonhon Nation students to share the stories of their family histories, which brought out commonalities between students. The experience provided an opportunity for students to act, dance and really become themselves. The teachers were able to bring great diversity, challenging educational contexts, passion for the arts and enthusiasm to introduce their students to the arts.  The students learned about the arts through workshops on language, music, choreography, scene study and auditioning.

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