: Following its absence at the COVID-postponed 74th annual Tony Awards held earlier this year, the Excellence in Theatre Education Education Award will return for the 2022 Tony Awards. Submissions for the honor, which can be sent in by students, parents, family members, colleagues, or members of school administration, are currently being accepted through January 31, 2022, at TonyAwards.com.
Tuesday, November 09, 2021
Tony Awards Will Bring Back Excellence in Theatre Education Honor in 2022
Playbill
: Following its absence at the COVID-postponed 74th annual Tony Awards held earlier this year, the Excellence in Theatre Education Education Award will return for the 2022 Tony Awards. Submissions for the honor, which can be sent in by students, parents, family members, colleagues, or members of school administration, are currently being accepted through January 31, 2022, at TonyAwards.com.
: Following its absence at the COVID-postponed 74th annual Tony Awards held earlier this year, the Excellence in Theatre Education Education Award will return for the 2022 Tony Awards. Submissions for the honor, which can be sent in by students, parents, family members, colleagues, or members of school administration, are currently being accepted through January 31, 2022, at TonyAwards.com.
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This was such an exciting article to read. Educational theater is so so important, Not only does it serve as an avenue for young people to get into theater at more serious levels, but it also teaches children interpersonal skills, performance skills, collaboration, and so many other practical skills in a fun and inviting way. There are so many people in the world who would never be able to experience th joy and community of theater if not for their school theater programs, and probably just as many who wouldn’t be the person they are without their theater teachers. Educational theater keeps theater accessible, joyful, widespread, and fun. I love that Carngeie Mellon acknowledges this essential piece of the larger theater community, and I’m thrilled to see that the excellence in Theatre Education Honor is coming back in 2022! Effective theater teachers deserve all the recognition and celebration they can get.
I’m really glad to see this important award returning to the Tony’s. I remember when I was in high school we actually nominated our drama director for the award and I remember how fun it was to recollect on how important she was to us. High school theatre educators are a huge reason why all of us even choose to go into theatre in higher education and we owe it all to them. My three theatre teachers in high school are some of my biggest inspirations and best friends throughout that time. It is also really exciting to see CMU sponsoring this award again and recognizing the importance of theatre education at the high school level. It is so important to recognize teachers especially coming out of a time that was so difficult for them to do their jobs. All teachers had to go above and beyond to teach during the midst of the pandemic and they should be recognized for their work now more than ever.
This award is more important now than ever because the work K-12 theatre teachers have devoted to their students during the pandemic must be recognized. As someone who was an upperclassman in high school during the beginning of the pandemic, I worked closely with my theatre teacher to try and make zoom rehearsal and digital watch parties engaging and fun. However, the elephant was always in the room – the fact that we were all made up of pixels on a screen rather seeing and hearing each other in person was always prominent. For that year and a half I had left of high school, I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have those rehearsals or meetings, so now it is easy for me to see how much creativity and time these teachers had to put in, these past years especially, to keep their students engaged and on the right track.
I must say it is strange to read about this now vs when I first learned about this while I was in high school. It’s definitely a different feeling when you go to CMU and you read about the opportunities you were searching for during your high school years. I remember when my high school director was being nominated by students for this award (great theater maker but I have some disagreements with how he treats students) anyway I am glad to see that this is coming back. I think that theater education in schools is incredibly important. Theater education had such a huge impact on me while I was going through high school and I think that it is a great way to help students get through (typically) a hard period of life. I think that we need more strong theater teachers in schools so incentivizing teachers to be the best they can be is always a good thing. I can’t wait to see further recognition for amazing teachers.
This is great to hear. I think high school educators in general have such a difficult and such an important job that is deserving of recognition. For theater teachers to be awarded at the Tonys is exciting for them, of course, and also helps send the message that this is something important and valued in the field. High school students are in a stage of self-discovery and important decisions about the course of their lives, and high school teachers are such an important part of that process. In general, and from my own experience, high school theater teachers in particular tend to have so much passion for their work and for their students, putting in a huge number of hours outside of school, and within classes as well. Their students range from kids who are highly passionate, want to pursue the performing arts as a career, and who need coaching and guidance, to kids who are taking ‘Acting I’ for the arts credit and an easy A, who don’t want to be there and need to be coaxed into everything in the hopes of igniting a passion there as well. It’s a job that’s so difficult and the fact that we help to get it recognized nationally is great to bring recognition to that role.
This is something that is really exciting to hear. Theatrical educators are some of the most important people in the industry. I sincerely hope that every successful actor and designer can look back to their time in grade school and remember their art or theatre teacher, I know that I most certainly do. K-12 educators have the glorious opportunity to inspire and lead students from the beginning of their dreams. This is perhaps the most valuable time in a child's life to shape their future and support their dreams. I remember getting together with a group of my friends in the theatre department to nominate our teacher for this award. It felt like one of the few things that we could do as students in high school that could really impact our community and our teacher that we held so much respect for. It really was a shame that the TONY awards had to postpone this award last year due to the COVID pandemic, I really am glad that they chose to bring it back.
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