Educational Theatre Association Approved For NEA Grant; Seeking Applicants

The Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) has been approved for it's first National Endowment for the Arts grant. Jane Chu, NEA Chairman, has approved more than $25 million in grants as part of the NEA's first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018 including an Art Works matching grant of $36,000 to EdTA for the Curriculum Framework Project. EdTA's grant was one of only 68 in the nation approved in Art Works' arts education category.

The year-long initiative will pair 10 two-member teams of high school theatre educators and teaching artists to create a standards-based curriculum framework and instructional units in targeted areas of theatre. EdTA is accepting applications online for participation February 15 through March 15; applicants are not required to be members of the association.

EdTA Director of Educational Policy, James Palmarini, describes the project as the next step towards the association's goal of providing quality professional development for its members and the field of theatre education. "Nearly 30 states have adopted new standards in the last two years. To meet those more rigorous standards, our teachers need a framework that articulates what is important to teach and learn in theatre. This project will do that."

Chu said, "It is energizing to see the impact that the arts are making throughout the United States. These NEA-supported projects, such as the EdTA's Curriculum Framework Project, are good examples of how the arts prepare our children to succeed."

EdTA Executive Director, Julie Theobald, said she was grateful for the NEA's investment in theatre educators. "Our teachers are the key to ensuring that our students will have the opportunity to engage in a quality theatre education. This grant will certainly help us provide more and better professional development.'

The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

About the Educational Theatre Association, home of the International Thespian Society

The Educational Theatre Association is an international association with approximately 125,000 active members. EdTA's mission is shaping lives through theatre education: honoring student achievement in theatre; supporting teachers by providing professional development, resources, and recognition; and influencing public opinion that theatre education is essential and builds life skills. EdTA is the home of the International Thespian Society, an honorary organization established at more than 4,700 schools, that has inducted more than 2.3 million theatre students since its founding in 1929. EdTA also produces the International Thespian Festival and publishes Dramatics magazine for high school theatre students, and Teaching Theatre, a journal for theatre education professionals. The Educational Theatre Foundation is the philanthropic arm of EdTA.

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