Eastern Student Nicole Garcia of Newington Leads Arts Institute for Local High Schoolers

2016 Aug 10

Eastern Connecticut State University hosted a three-week Summer Arts Institute from July 11-28. The program invited rising juniors and seniors from Windham High School and Arts at the Capitol Theatre (ACT) to participate in a college course free of charge, including the opportunity to gain college credit.

Nicole Garcia '17 of Newington, who majors in Theatre, served as a teaching assistant during the program.

"I am very proud of the world we created together," said Garcia. "The students started off very shy, but were able to create a piece together in time for our performance. I hope this process gave them more confidence for their later creative decisions."

High school students were taught by Eastern professors and given the opportunity to develop their English language arts and literacy, math and socio-emotional-cognitive skills. "We had a terrific group of students this year," said Theatre Professor Kristen Morgan. "They really grew a great deal from start to finish."

Theatre Professor Alycia Bright Holland co-taught the institute with Morgan. The program coordinator was Theatre Professor Nichola Johnson. The course ended with a public performance for friends, family and the community in the studio theatre.

Students were enrolled in "The 180," a course that combines a contextual and experimental approach form the perspective of the artist-practitioner and their work onstage, in film, dance, video and other representational mediums. The course emphasized the key concepts, approaches and methodologies as practiced globally and from the past and present. There was a great deal of hands-on participation in experiential exercises and projects.