Educational Programming
Entertaining, Enriching & Educating
through the Arts
Schooltime Theater
Sheffel Theater
Clinic
Young Artist of the Year Awards
The Topeka Performing
Arts Center is dedicated to making youth arts education
accessible as an
adjunct
to local and regional education systems. Our special
programs for children grades K-12 offer opportunities
to learn, experience, and be recognized in the
world of music and theater.
Schooltime Theater live
arts performances for children directly complement
schools' curricula, and we
hire the best professional touring children's
theater companies in the nation. Children's exposure
to
the
arts helps develop key cognitive skills such
as good decision-making and problem-solving. Schooltime
Theater
is sponsored by a generous grant from Security
Benefit.
Sheffel Theater
Clinic was founded
in 1995. Every Shawnee County third grade student
-
from public
school, private school and home schooled -
is invited to attend and learn about the joys of
theater.
They are treated to six 30-minute workshops
in acting,
costuming, make-up, movement, technical staging
and vocal expression, plus a delicious lunch
and a short
performance that includes all the elements
of theater they learned during the day. STC is sponsored
by
Payless ShoeSource, T&T Mangement, Commerce
Bank & Trust,
the Topeka Active 20/30 Club #524, Durham School
Services, Friends of TPAC, and FritoLay.
The
Young Artist of the Year Awards program was
founded in 1995, and is sponsored by T&T
Management (Steve & Karen
Tyler). Any Shawnee County high school junior
can be nominated in one of ten awards categories:
instrumental
music, musical theater, vocal music, dramatic
theater, ballet/classical/modern dance, tap/jazz/other
dance,
visual arts, creative writing, technical theater,
and community services in the arts. A panel
of judges reviews the nominees' work to choose
the best in
each category. Click here to view the 2008 results.
And there's more. Students of
the arts:
significantly out-perform their non-arts peers
on SAT scores in mathematics and verbal skills;
are four times less likely to drop out of school;
are more likely to participate in community
service;
develop greater self-esteem;
develop better self-discipline;
are more likely to use positive and safe ways
to release their emotions.
SCHOOLTIME THEATER
The Schooltime Theater
performances for the 2006-2007 season are:
Presented by Security Benefit
FOR TICKETS: Call (785) 234-2787 x110
2009 Schedule TBA Announced
SHEFFEL THEATER CLINIC
The Sheffel Theater Clinic
(STC) provides an important cultural supplement
to area
schools'
arts education
curriculum by serving nearly 2,300 third
grade students annually. The Clinic is held
at the
Topeka Performing
Arts Center in January through March each
year.
In 2004, 2,349 students participated
in the program, each gaining a hands-on understanding
of the
backstage world of theater at a critically
receptive and
creative time in their lives. We hope to
open their minds
to future participation in the arts as
a performer, technician, creator or audience
member.
The program began in 1995 with about
300 students, and was made possible through
a bequest by
Topekans Irving and the late Beth Sheffel
in memory of
their daughter Anita. The program grew
to include all
third grade students from all schools
in Shawnee Country.
In 2000, TPAC opened the program to students
outside Shawnee County for a small fee,
and began actively
including alternative education sources
such as home schools, special needs and
individual
education
programs.
Payless ShoeSource generously
became the Corporate Sponsor of the Sheffel
Theater
Clinic in 2004.
Due to Payless' on-going commitment
to our community, the Topeka Performing
Arts Center
is able to
continue this valuable educational
program, which introduces
the creativity and magic of live theatre
to the students.
Admission is provided
free to students from Shawnee County. Students
from outside Shawnee
County
pay $6.50 per student to cover actual
costs.
Students arrive between 9:00am
and 9:15am for their daylong experience.
They attend
six 30-minute
workshops,
each devoted to a different artistic
aspect of theater: acting, costuming,
make-up,
movement, technical staging
and vocal expression. The students
attend three workshops in the morning,
have
lunch, which
is
provided by
McDonald's (T&T Management)
and FritoLay, attend three more
workshops
and end their day by watching
a live performance in the Georgia
Neese Gray Performance Hall.
Clinic
planners stress fun, experiential
learning and inclusive interaction
for each of the students
as they move from one workshop
to the next, all staged throughout
the
TPAC
facility.
The Topeka Performing
Arts Center offers the best in live performance
and arts
education for Northeast
Kansas audiences. TPAC offers
a full calendar of professional
and
community
performing
arts
for
all audiences.Call 785-234-2787
for more information about
Sheffel Theater
Clinic,
and how your
school can participate.
YOUNG
ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARDS
The
Topeka Performing Arts
Center Young Artist of the Year
Awards Program
was conceived
to recognize
Shawnee
County high school seniors
who excelled in fine arts in order
to celebrate
their contributions
to the
enrichment of their schools
and their community, and to encourage
students'
continued achievement
in the arts.
Annually in
spring, any Shawnee County high school
junior
can be nominated
in one of
ten awards
categories. A panel of
judges reviews the nominees'
work
to choose the best in
each category.
Categories include: Instrumental
music, musical theater,
vocal music, dramatic
theater, ballet/classical/modern
dance, tap/jazz/other
dance, visual arts,
creative writing,
technical
theater, and community
services in the arts. Click here to view the 2008 results. |
