Teaching
I teach writing through the lens of art as activism, investing students with responsibility, skills and real-world opportunities to share their work. As someone who came late to writing through a free class at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, I am invested in creating other accessible spaces that foreground marginalized voices and foster community.
I have created online platforms for creative activism, writing workshops for veterans’ centers and courses at the university level. Click on classes in the main menu for information about current offerings.
Student Ambassadors
For Center Theatre Group, I launched the inaugural Student Advocacy Team for their Student Ambassadors Program. High School students learned about California education policy and strategic advocacy. Building on that knowledge, they designed an elevator pitch workshop that offered practical tools for speaking truth to power and offered it at a series of student events. Learn more.
Fringe Benefits Theatre and Southeast Middle School
Using improv, story circles and creative assignment, students created an original play about the social justice issues they are facing in 2023 from discrimination, cyberbullying, isolation, deportation and addiction, to the war in Ukraine. Building trust with thirty middle school students, their parents, their teachers, school principals, a legion of volunteers and custodial staff allowed us to pull off a big, beautiful production that connected their lives with their peers in the Ukraine.
Wounded Warriors
For the Wounded Warriors Program, I led a writing workshop for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Together we created a shared language that mixed writing concepts with military slang, helping us understand each other and make the writing process our own. Soldiers created short autobiographical pieces that reflected the entirety of who they were, not just their military lives, and performed them at community events in Maine and New York.
Center Theatre Group at Lynwood High School
Through Center Theater Group’s Speak to Me Program, I had the opportunity to spend a semester as a Teaching Artist at Lynwood High School. Through ensemble building, improv exercises and a writing workshop, we reflected on the role of race in our experience at Lynwood and beyond. Based on our time together, I wrote Flip the Game, which presented high school as a video game with pre-determined teams, identities and actions all based on race. Lynwood students, designed, performed the play and lead post-show community conversations with parents, students and school staff.
Student Voices Curriculum
In 2012, I created the Student Voices Campaign, a platform for students to communicate directly and creatively to elected officials. The campaign happens every spring when school boards are budgeting for the coming academic year and are required by law to gather student input. Using the Student Voices Classroom Guide, students create 2-minute videos that capture their vision for their school and send it to their local school board. To date, student videos have led to increases in arts education funding, the establishment of gender-neutral bathrooms and a cohort of young artists who recognize the power of their voices. Learn more and get the guide.