Cue the Spotlight! Think Together Brings Theater to Students
For the past year, Think Together has partnered with Arts & Learning Conservatory (ALC) to bring our STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Enrichment Accelerator, “Behind the Scenes,” to life through an interactive technical theater program designed for students new to the arts.
Professional theater directors from ALC teach students skills like character development, script memorization, auditioning, lighting design, sound engineering, and other key elements of theater production.
To showcase these new skills, Think Together students collaborated with ALC to present productions of “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Lion king,” “Matilda,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and a variety of others at their school sites.
In addition to technical skills, students learn how to interact and work together. For eighth grade Think Together student Nathaly, she learned the value of teamwork within her role in the production of “The Jungle Book” and even made new friends along the way.
“I like the fact that we have new experiences since we don’t really get a lot of programs like this. It’s been really cool to see how things work in theaters,” said Nathaly. “It helps me build new skills and I’ve learned a lot about teamwork. Even those kids who, like me, were shy, got to experience new things.”
Many in the ALC program had never participated in or been to a theater production, making this a completely new experience for them.
“Consistently, I’ve seen kids push past embarrassment, push past being silly when it’s not always cool to be silly. They have each shown significant growth just in believing in what they’re capable of,” shared Tony Pelayo, Arts and Learning Conservatory teaching artist. “Part of this program has been challenging each and every student to really do something they’ve never done before and do it with boldness.”
For the 2024-2025 school year, Think Together served 320 students with 70 hours of exposure to the ALC program across 10 weeks of curriculum, with 35% of students saying they feel more confident and interested in school. ALC currently operates their immersive and technical theater program in all 27 schools in Compton Unified School District that Think Together partners with.
“Think Together’s vision is that all students in California, particularly those from historically marginalized groups, are graduating from high school with all life options available. To accomplish this, we work to identify other community partners who can provide exposure to unique program experiences such as this one,” said Jaclyn Aviles, Senior Strategist and leader of the enrichment accelerator initiative for Think Together. “By exploring STEAM, students find passions and talents they didn’t know they had.”
After a successful school year in Compton Unified School District, the ALC and Think Together partnership is planning to expand to additional school districts across Southern California. The ALC program is only a fraction of what Think Together offers within our enrichment accelerators, which expand to sports and dance.
