[SML] Looking for feedback from you educational types...

[Keith Newman]

Steven,

I am extremely interested in this but also work in a high school. I just
met with our Career Tech Director today and he is looking to increase the
Career Tech presence within our high school. What that means is taking my
program, which is pretty much voluntary and after school and giving it 4-5
classes per day plus additional after school programming.  Students
involved in the program are expected to take at least two classes each
semester.

Being a Career Tech program also means affiliating ourselves with a
university so students have the opportunity to receive college credit for
their work.  This also means our curriculum has to fit within their
structure as well to justify the awarding of credit. Beyond universities we
will collaborate with local entertainment technical businesses, designers,
the local IA and the Cleveland Film Commission on their needs to make sure
our course work helps build the foundation of skills that our industry
needs in its next generation of technicians.

Our Career Tech programs include 13 different fields of study and include
three school districts.  Our Entertainment Technician Program will
compliment our Audio Engineering and Video Production programs.

A program like the one you described could be a huge boon to our program if
it were in our area but there is no reason why the concepts can't apply to
us and help influence us at our inception.


Keith Newman

Technical Direcotr

Cleveland Heights High School



On Dec 11, 2015 7:59 PM, "Steven Santos via Stagecraft" <
stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:

> Putting together a letter to area schools that run technical theater
> programs, and I could use some feedback from those who work in such
> programs.
>
> My questions are as follows:
>
> 1. Would this interest you?  Why/why not?
> 2. Does this sound like something useful for your school?
> 3. Would you take the step of going to the meeting?
> 4. Any other thoughts on it?
>
> 5. Feel free to help with grammar/spelling/etc :)
>
> Here it is:
>
> Bridging the gap between college and work is more important today than
> it has ever been before, and this is a difficult position for any
> school that teaches technical theater.  On the other side of the coin,
> those companies that employ people in the field of technical theater
> often struggle to find the right people with the right talents and
> skills to fill the jobs that are available.
>
> So how do we bridge this gap?  In a word, innovation.
>
> _______, together with ___________, a not-for-profit education
> corporation with a strong background in training technical theater,
> are building the resources we believe are needed to help bridge this
> gap in ways never before possible.
>
> Our efforts are focused on a few basic areas; curriculum development,
> internships, mentoring, job entry and support after they graduate.
>
> Curriculum Development
>
> The majority of students coming out of technical theater programs
> today are not graduating equipped with the appropriate skills to
> successfully obtain and keep work in the field of production.  To help
> colleges develop and keep their programs current, our curriculum
> experts can work with you and your staff to help make sure your
> students get the skills they need to be successful in the field.
>
> Through both _________ and ________, you can access a huge number of
> industry trainers, certifications and courses to augment your
> curriculum and programs.  Whether you want to get your students the
> certifications they need to get the jobs, bring in a guest speaker on
> a particular subject or bring in an expert to run a semester long
> class on a subject you can’t teach in-house, we can help you do it.
>
> Available certification programs include:
>
> ·        OSHA 10 certification for technical theater
> ·        Man Lift operator training
> ·        Fall Arrest training
> ·        Ladder Safety Training for the Entertainment Industry
> ·        And MANY more!
>
> Internships
>
> We have developed a new internship program for technical theater
> programs that we think you will find exciting!  Our new and highly
> flexible internship program will match your students one-on-one with
> highly skilled union tradespeople that have been specially trained on
> how to help students get the most out of the experience.  In
> coordination with your program, we will place your students on actual
> calls, doing in the real world exactly what they have just learned in
> class with you, and refining those skills with some of the best
> tradespeople in the industry.
>
> Imagine the educational potential when your students learn a skill in
> class, practice it a few times at school then get to actually get to
> do it in a real show, where some of the top industry production
> professionals work with them and help the refine it!
>
> After every intern call, we collect evaluations from both the students
> and the pros they worked with.  This system allows us to provide you
> with specific feedback on individual students, as well as on your
> program in general, with the goal of helping each student and program
> to better succeed.
>
> Mentoring
>
> The internship can be used by programs of almost any size, but it is
> designed for technical theater students in certificate or degree
> programs.   As we all know, many great technical theater people also
> come out of small colleges without a large technical theater program.
> These students are often left to fend for themselves and figure it all
> out as they go, a process that is usually less than ideal, especially
> when they enter the professional world.  Our mentoring program is
> designed to connect these ‘loan wolf’ students with highly skilled
> tradespeople that can help them to learn and master the trade.
>
> After the internship
>
> Ask any college student what the scariest part of leaving school is
> and they will tell you it’s finding a job in the field when they
> graduate.  Our program holds a number of benefits for students trying
> to enter the work force after the internship.
>
> ·        Access to Union Over-Hire lists.  For students in full-time
> degree or certificate programs, they will be given the opportunity to
> join the coveted over-hire lists for _______ and a special sign-up
> date just for those that have done the intern program.  This is not a
> guarantee of a job, but a first step that can help open a great many
> doors.
>
> ·        Assistance with Job Placement.  The Unions are not the only
> places to work in technical theater.  A great many companies in the
> area employ people in technical theater jobs, and we know just about
> all of them.  Our network of people can do a lot to help graduates
> find the companies that are hiring and land those first jobs in the
> industry.
>
> ·        Networking.  The entire technical theater industry runs on
> networking.  Those that participate in our programs will have many
> opportunities to network within the field, including access to
> industry classes, workshops, trainings and online communities after
> graduation.
>
>
> Next Steps
>
> If you have gotten this far, chances are we managed to rock your world
> a bit, and in our industry, that’s a good thing.   What we are trying
> to do is a bit revolutionary for our field.
>
> We intend to take our first interns in September of 2016 (curriculum
> services are available now), and we have a lot to do to get ready for
> it.  This being the first time anyone has tried to pull off a program
> of this scope, we still have some things to work out with it that we
> would like your help with.   To that end, we ask you to join us for a
> meeting to help us better understand your needs with a program like
> this.
>
>      [Meeting Date, Time and Location ]
>      [RSVP information]
>
>
> ---
>
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Steven Santos
>
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