Park Square Theatre Company

Filing Period

Sep 1, 2011 to Aug 31, 2012

Signed

Jul 15, 2013

Return Version

2011v1.5

Gross Receipts

$2,873,165

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Teen programming-for 17 years park square's education program has been providing curriculum-relevant programming for students and teachers in minnesota, wisconsin and iowa. Our 3m student series, which was awarded the 2005 sally ordway irvine award for education excellence, last year served 21,616 students from more than 260 schools. The educational community we serve includes middle- and high-school teachers and their students (aged 12-18) from all kinds of schools: of the nearly 22,000 students who attended last year, 12% were from urban schools, 40% suburban and 48% rural. And, although schools cannot provide specific statistics, from observation we estimate students of color comprise 40% of our school audience. To serve the broadest possible range of schools and disciplines, park square offers five productions each year that include both curriculum-based classics and new works deep in social content. Park square's approach to students is mission-driven and authentic. For us, these young people are not a group sales target or part of an elite "outreach" project. They are an essential park square audience. They see exceptional shows filled with top talent. The program is carefully designed to be "an evening of theatre during the day," with specially-trained staff, reserved seating, professional playbills, and the other amenities every audience deserves. Study guides (available free and online) are written by practicing teachers. Each guide includes background information for the classroom teacher, as well as discussion questions, and activities. The richest offering, our immersion day, turns the whole facility into a school for the day, with small-group artist-led workshops, build a moment workshop with designers and actors, performance, and post-show discussion.park square recognizes that some learning can take place best outside the classroom, which is why teachers continue to demand theatre programming relevant to curricular needs, even though the logistics and expense of organizing a field trip can be challenging. Studies continue to emphasize the strong role arts participation plays in increasing key cognitive functions in the brain. Theatre helps teachers: 1) connect students to literature. Many teachers find that bringing the book or script to life is the primary benefit they seek from theatre. Our core repertory (i.e. Of mice and men, a midsummer night's dream and the diary of anne frank), is directly tied to the reading lists of a majority of minnesota schools. 2) inspire empathy. Literally "walking in another's shoes" by reading, acting and watching live performances of characters different from themselves allows students to experience new emotions in a safe environment. 3) overcome reading and language barriers. Literature is a loathsome topic for struggling readers of any background. Live theatre offers these students ample context and visual clues for understanding words and phrases. 4) strengthen public speaking skills and group interaction. Teachers whose students participate in our immersion day workshops often the difference just one 45-minute session in improvisation or scene work can make - drawing out the students who usually stay on the sidelines.

Filer

EIN

41-1280683