Students/AlumniBen M.
"I wanted to share with you that I just recieved my acceptance email. I want to thank you so much for your help getting me into the MAD Academy. It means so much to me. Thank you again." Francesca "Thank you for being so funny and fun! I love your class so much and I learned so much about film making. Thank you!" Gloria "Thank you for helping me not to be afraid to go on stage." Miranda
"This class was the most important class to me and I am glad you were there to be my teacher. I love theatre and want to be an actress someday and you prepared me for that. I looked forward to your classes every day because that's where I can let myself out and let my creativity free. I have learned so much about theatre and life." Charlie "I didn't know anybody on the first day of school because I had just moved here from Washington. Your class is where I made the most friends!" ColleaguesP.J. Carmean | English Teacher
"You do such an amazing job of picking plays that are current, poignant, and inclusive. I feel lucky to work at a school with such a strong theater department." Mark Johnson | Technical Director, Marjorie Luke Theatre "Collaborating with others to create a school production means being able to fulfill a number of duties. Rich not only helps individual students focus and work on their own roles, he also helps them work together as a production team. I’ve seen people employ various tactics to achieve production goals. What struck me about Rich was his ability to mix discipline with the pure joy of acting and teaching. His ability to use humor and his willingness to be goofy are a rare treat and they create an easy-going rapport with his students and fellow workers. Rich continues to surprise us by selecting plays not based on ego, but on what he feels the students would actually have fun doing. This allows their enjoyment of the material to power the production, and they take ownership of the creative process as full partners." |
Parents
Carolyn G. "[My son] so enjoyed the drama program at SBJHS, and found so much camaraderie and joy in the productions. I wanted to thank you for making a program that could be so inclusive and so positive. I think it was a huge boost for his confidence. [He] had 5 years of speech therapy in elementary school. Two of those years were intense, twice weekly sessions that we obtained privately. To say he was sensitive about his enunciation would be an understatement. [My son] is at a place now where his speech doesn’t hold him back. I think that your class was a significant part of that transformation. When [he] first came home and told us he had a part in the play, I was stunned. This from the guy who said people teased him about the way he talked. He never mentioned--nor did he seem to care about—the size of his part. What he talked about were his friends, the jokes you cracked, being part of a team." John and Tish H. We just want you to know that [our daughter] has benefited so much from her time in Theatre Arts class. She has made friends, learned discipline, hard work and tenacity. It has inspired her to work hard in other classes at school and opened her mind to many aspects of life both in and outside of school. We cannot thank you enough for working with her. We have seen the positive changes that theatre arts has made in her. She has grown and matured with much assistance from the Theatre Arts Program. Thank you!" Mary and Sean K. "[Our son] learned so much, not only about technique and history, but how to work in a group and how to try and resolve issues." Darla K. "[My daughter] loved the recognition and is proud of the performance that the group put on. [She] has gained so much confidence and has truly blossomed during this first year at junior high and a big part of that has been due to her involvement in the theater program!! What I especially like is how much fun the kids seem to have with the plays that you choose. I heard many audience members remark later at how much they enjoyed the play and how they were caught up in how much fun the kids were having! Everyone around me (including younger kids) were laughing like crazy - the audience was truly engaged! I have seen [my daughter] grow in so many ways this year. In the past, she’s been more reserved and quiet but I noticed this year, she’s more her natural, silly self and lets her sense of humor shine through. I credit a lot of that to your work with the kids in theater. The various activities and exercises bring her out of herself and she just goes with it. You have formed a tight, “family” group where the kids can be themselves. Amelia has made new friends who truly care about and support each other. The kids learn so much and they don’t even realize it because they are having fun and enjoying all that goes into putting on a play. And a lot of this carries over into their everyday lives! Even the long work days were fun! They truly feel that they “own” the performance which is a great thing at this age!" |