“[YPT] - Young Playwrights` Theater

YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS’
THEATER
FY12 ANNUAL REPORT
Meet the new YPT leadership team!
In FY12, YPT said goodbye and good luck
to Producing Artistic Director and CEO
David Snider. Deputy Director Brigitte
Moore stepped up as Executive Director and
Program Manager Nicole Jost was promoted
to Associate Artistic Director.
Thank you, donors!
Thanks to everyone who donated this year,
YPT had the resources to provide free
playwriting programming and performances
to thousands of students and community
members throughout the DC region.
To everyone who made a gift to YPT this year,
please know that all of these accomplishments
—the students we served this year, the
audiences we inspired—would not have been
possible without your support.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
2
Through interactive
in-school and after-school
programs, YPT
activates student learning and
inspires students to understand
the power of language and
realize their potential as
both individuals and artists.
By publicly presenting
and discussing
student-written work, YPT
promotes community dialogue
and respect for young artists.
“
It’s definitely
made me more
confident in myself.
Now I’m like, ‘I
wrote a play. I can
do anything!’
Sam, YPT Student
”
Guiding Principles & Beliefs
• Each student has a story
worth telling.
• The arts are critical to excellence in education.
• The process is more important than the product.
• We strive for high standards from all who participate in our
programs.
• We meet students where they are.
• We value collaborations and partnerships to leverage resources
to accomplish our purpose.
MISSION STATEMENT
Young Playwrights’ Theater teaches students to express
themselves clearly and creatively through the art of playwriting.
3
A Note from the
Executive Director
Dear Friends,
It has been an extraordinary year at YPT.
With your support, we reached more than
1,200 students with free, interactive
in-school and out-of-school-time
programming and provided over 6,000
audience members with a window into
students’ ideas, imaginations and dreams.
We took our programming international,
providing our Young Playwrights’
Workshop students with the opportunity to learn and create with
artists from El Salvador, China and Russia. We expanded our
annual New Play Festival to produce a month-long celebration of
26 outstanding Finalist and Featured plays. And we said farewell
and congratulations to our amazing Producing Artistic Director and
CEO David Snider, as he moved on to an exciting new position at
Arena Stage.
As we head into our eighteenth year of programming, I am thrilled
to step up as Executive Director, working with our newly appointed
Associate Artistic Director Nicole Jost, our dedicated board of directors
and our unbeatable company of artist-administrators, teaching artists,
actors, directors and designers to make our students’ dreams come
true. Together, we will grow our programming over the next year to
inspire more students than ever before to realize the power of their
voices and stories through playwriting. We look forward to sharing
those stories with you – our amazing community of supporters. I know
you will enjoy them.
We never could have come this far without you. We’re so glad to
know you, and we’re proud to share our 2011-2012 annual report with
you. We hope the following pages will demonstrate the value of your
investment in our students – and inspire you to stay involved with us
over the next year – as a donor, an audience member or just a fan. As
always, all your donations directly support our students, with 83 cents
of every dollar going right into the classroom.
On behalf of our staff, board, artistic company and the thousands of
students whose lives you touch each year – thank you from the bottom
of our hearts. We hope to see you soon.
4
Warmly,
Brigitte Moore
Executive Director
A Young Playwrights’ Theater Production
FY12 ANNUAL REPORT
by the Staff of YPT
Our Audience & Achievements.........6
New Play Festival........................... 24
Who’s Who.................................... 9
Behind the Scenes: Carmela Pascale... 26
Behind the Scenes: Amber Walton...12
Reviews........................................ 28
In-School Playwriting Program...... 14
In the Words of a Student.............. 29
Out-of-School Time Programming...16
Assessments.................................. 31
Behind the Scenes: Sam Burris........ 18
Financials...................................... 33
YPT Goes International................. 20
FY12 Donors..................................35
Express Tour.................................22
FY12 Funders & Sponsors...............39
New Writers Now!.........................23
2437 15th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
202-387-9173
www.yptdc.org
5
Our Audience & Achievements
YPT works with a diverse population of students throughout
the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland.
Other
Caucasian
Asian American
5
5
10
40
Latino
35%
of YPT’s students
speak English as their
second language
40
64%
live at or near the
national poverty level
African American
98%
of YPT’s students
qualify for the
Free Lunch
Program
%
_
6
95%
attend schools
that receive
Title I Federal
Assistance
In the past 17 years, YPT has...
Reached over 9,000 students with free, in-depth playwriting
and literacy workshops led by professional Washington artists
Professionally produced over 275 plays written by DC public
elementary, middle and high school students
Performed for more than 84,000 people at nursing
homes, theaters, schools, community centers and juvenile detention
centers in DC, MD and VA
Given over 65,000 people their first theatrical experience
Employed over 600 DC artists through the program’s
readings, performances and workshops
Won hundreds of grants and sponsorships from a variety of funding
sources, including foundation and government grants, corporate
sponsorships and a thriving individual donor program
Received recognition through local and national press coverage, from the
Washington Post to ABC World News, as a national model for
excellence in arts education
2
2
Washington
Post Award
Finalist
HandsOn
Greater DC
Cares Community
Impact Award
2
for a significant
impact on the critical
needs of nonprofits,
schools and the
community
12
for Excellence in Nonprofit
Management
2
2
12
National Arts
and Humanities
Youth Program
Award
Helen Hayes
nomination
for Best
New Play
HandsOn
Greater DC
Cares Essence
of Leadership
Award
10
11
for exemplary
leadership that has
contributed to the
social well-being of
the community
from the President’s Committee
on the Arts and the Humanities
09
2
Meyer
Foundation
Exponent
Award
09
for innovative and
visionary leadership
for Chasing George Washington:
A White House Adventure
2
Mayor’s
Arts
Award
Our Audience & Achievements
Awards
06
for outstanding
contribution to arts
education
We look forward to many more years of bringing the best in arts
education to students throughout the DC region, and beyond.
7
A Watkins Elementary School
student creates his
main character
8
Who’s Who: FY12 Staff
Karen Zacarías
Founding Artistic Director
David Andrew Snider
Producing Artistic
Director & CEO
Nicole Jost
Program Manager
Liza Harbison
Communications and Graphic
Design Associate
Laurie Ascoli
Program Associate
Brigitte Moore
Deputy Director
Alison Beyrle
Development Associate
Peter Kopp
Administrative Assistant
9
Who’s Who:
FY12 Board of Directors
Brian F. Kennedy, Chair
Senior Trust & Fiduciary Specialist
Wells Fargo Private Bank
Miriam Gonzales, Vice Chair
Washington, DC
Michele Kulerman, Secretary
Francine Hope, Treasurer
Counsel
Senior Manager
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP PricewaterhouseCoopers
10
Kathy Bailey
Managing Shareholder
Bailey Law PC
Renée Beaver
Associate
Arnold & Porter LLP
Jonathan Chace
Managing Director, Employee Services
Acumen Solutions
Bryan Greene
Washington, DC
Tony Kalm
Director of Business Development
One Acre Fund
Karen Kok
Washington, DC
Essence Newhoff
Director of Development
Folger Shakespeare Library
Julie Paller
Washington, DC
John Reardon
Reardon Consulting, LLP
David Andrew Snider
Producing Artistic Director and CEO
Young Playwrights’ Theater
Jennifer Wrenn
Washington, DC
Karen Zacarías
Founding Artistic Director
Young Playwrights’ Theater
Who’s Who:
Advisory Councils
Advisory Council
Nilo Cruz
Anna Deavere Smith
Sarah Ruhl
Paula Vogel
Charles Randolph Wright
Student Advisory Council
Edwin Martinez
Reyna Rios
Paul McCoyer
Amber Walton
11
Student Stories
Amber Walton
Five minutes into a conversation with Amber, you get the feeling she will
accomplish everything she sets her mind to. With motivation to spare and
an inspiring commitment to social justice, she wouldn’t settle for anything
less. Her confident smile and mastery of language command attention
in any situation, whether she is acting, giving a speech to a room full of
people, or even just chatting with her friends.
When the In-School Playwriting Program came to her English classroom
at Bell Multicultural High School in the fall of 2010, Amber decided to write
a play that sought to deconstruct and transform the hatred she saw in the
world around her. Her play, Changing Tides: Judge Me Gently, tells the
story of Summer, a young homeless lesbian trapped in a subway train with
a homophobic man. Summer struggles to be understood and accepted,
ultimately forcing the man to reevaluate his prejudice and “see the beauty
in our differences and the similarity in our hearts.” Amber was surprised
and moved by the responses to her play when it was produced in the 2011
New Play Festival. “After the play, I was met by changed people,” she says.
“Some crying, some expressing joy, some still digesting its content, but all
acknowledged my play’s message and thanked me for the story I told.”
After her experience in the In-School Program, Amber wanted to continue
her work with YPT. She joined the Young Playwrights’ Workshop in the
fall of 2010 and stayed for two years, until she graduated from high school
in the spring of 2012. Amber is joining Smith College’s freshman class in
the fall of 2012, yet her experience with YPT continues to impact her life.
In June, Amber won a $10,000 scholarship based on an essay she wrote
about her experience writing her play with YPT. “Judge Me Gently is the
most important achievement I’ve accomplished,” she wrote. “I had been
passive, but I now know that being an advocate for justice is the path to
a better future. Dreams are tangible, and those that aren’t self-serving are
worth the risk.”
“JOIN! There is nothing you will regret.”
- Amber Walton’s advice to young people thinking
about joining the Young Playwrights’ Workshop
12
Amber performs
in Welcome to Our
World with the
Young Playwrights’
Workshop
13
In-School Playwriting Program
898 students served
The In-School Playwriting Program integrates the art of playwriting
into the classroom in order to enhance student literacy, creative
expression and communication. YPT has fifteen years of experience using
our In-School program to empower students throughout the DC region
to discover their unique voices, improve their literacy and communication
skills and experience the joy of the creative process. Thousands of
students and teachers now rely on YPT programming as an important
element of their personal and professional development.
In FY12, during a carefully crafted series of twelve standards-based,
in-class workshops with professional playwrights, actors, and teaching
artists, students participating in the In-School Playwriting Program
explored the mechanics of language, drama and self-expression,
culminating with each student writing an original play.
Rather than learn English Language Arts as a set of disconnected rules,
students in the In-School Playwriting Program discovered how they
can use language to express themselves and engage the world around
them through the art of playwriting.
Two Watkins Elementary School
students act out their protagonists
14
In FY12, the In-School Playwriting Program served 898
elementary, middle and high school students throughout
Washington, DC and Virginia. Participating schools included: Ballou
High School, Bell Multicultural High School, Wakefield High School,
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Swanson Middle School, Lincoln
Multicultural Middle School, Bancroft Elementary School, Claremont
Immersion School, Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public
Charter School, Fillmore Arts Center, Plummer Elementary School,
The Maret School, Powell
Elementary School, Watkins
Elementary School and
I would
Walker-Jones Education
recommend YPT
Campus.
“
to other students
because it can bring
out their creativity,
and show them things
they never thought
they could do.
100% of students in the
In-School Playwriting
Program at all our FY12
schools completed dramatic
writing assignments, including
short plays, monologues and
scenes, and all participating
students experienced
their writing read aloud by
professional actors in the classroom.
”
In-School Playwriting Program
A Bell Multicultural High School student edits his first
draft with the help of his teaching artist
Alexis, YPT Student
15
Out-of-School Time Programming
After-School Playwriting Program:
55 students served
The After-School Playwriting Program develops students’ creative
expression and collaboration by exploring theater as an ensemble.
Participants work together as a theater company to examine the political,
intellectual, economic and social impact of literary and dramatic works,
culminating in the collaborative creation of a play that confronts issues in
the playwrights’ cultural history and community.
YPT’s FY12 After-School Playwriting Program provided innovative
out-of-school-time (OST) programming for 25 students at Sousa Middle
School, as well as thirty students at White Oak Middle School and Silver
Spring International School in Montgomery County, through a partnership
with Community Bridges’ Jump Start Girls! Adelante Niñas! The
Community Bridges program supports the tremendous potential of
elementary and middle school girls by focusing on team building, critical
thinking, and identity exploration.
Summer Playwriting Program:
245 students served
The Summer Playwriting
Program provides students
with the tools necessary to
create and perform their own
plays, including lessons in
playwriting, acting and design.
16
YPT’s FY12 Summer
Playwriting Program provided
summer enrichment for
students in Washington, DC and Montgomery County. Through an exciting
partnership with the Commonweal Foundation, YPT reached 170 students
enrolled in summer camp at Long Branch Recreation Center in Silver
Spring. YPT also served 20 students in partnership with Horizons Greater
Washington, an academic program for low-income DC students aimed at
advancing their reading levels and lifelong interest in learning. Through
partnerships with DC Scores and Ms. Shannon’s Shenanigans, YPT provided
the program to an additional 55 students.
Young Playwrights’ Workshop
students write and rehearse
monologues
Young Playwrights’ Workshop:
115 students and community members served
Throughout FY12, YPT provided our onsite Young Playwrights’ Workshop in
Columbia Heights. This award-winning
after-school student theater ensemble
provided students with the opportunity to
work together to create, develop, rehearse
and perform an original play.
On June 11, 2012, the Young Playwrights’
Workshop students premiered their original
play, entitled Welcome to Our World, at
GALA Hispanic Theatre. In Welcome to Our
World, the Workshop explored the idea of
the stranger. Workshop member Patricio
Juarez explained, “Every great story begins
when two people meet for the first time.” The play was a celebration
of the potential of human interactions, deepening the audience’s
understanding of people we don’t normally take time to get to know. A
preview of the play was also performed on March 11, 2012 as part of
INTERSECTIONS: A New America Arts Festival.
17
Student Story
Sam Burris
Sam knew he loved theater long before YPT visited his classroom
at Swanson Middle School. He was an active member of the theater
department and had performed in multiple school productions. When he
stepped into his first workshop with the In-School Playwriting Program,
he was reluctant to take on this new theatrical challenge. As he began
writing, however, Sam found inspiration, and his unique and moving play
gained him a spot in the 2012 New Play Festival. The Stranger depicts
a young war veteran as he struggles to start a new life and leave “Fear”
behind. Sam decided early on that he wanted his protagonist and antagonist
to be one and the same. He made the veteran’s fear into a character,
allowing the audience to see the fierce battle waging in the young man’s
mind.
An outgoing but humble young man, Sam blushes and hides his face every
time his work is complimented. As his words were read by members of YPT’s
New Play Festival Reading Committee and his play was ultimately chosen
for production, Sam realized that this story was one that needed to be told.
Directors, actors and friends recounted personal experiences and explored
what this play meant to them and their loved ones. Sam realized the power
of his words and found an issue he was passionate about. By the time he
stepped on stage to introduce his play on the second night of the Festival,
Sam had taken ownership of his activism. “If I could change one thing about
this country,” he told a packed house at GALA Hispanic Theatre, “it would be
the amount of support for our returning veterans and their families.” He wants
to continue learning about veteran’s rights and how he can take action.
Sam attended the final performance of the Young Playwrights’ Workshop
in June of 2012. He got more involved with the production than expected
when he was asked to perform as a last-minute understudy! Sam said that
in his brief time with the group, he could see that they were like family. He
plans to join the Workshop this year.
“It’s definitely made me more confident in myself.
Now I’m like, ‘I wrote a play. I can do anything!’”
18
- Sam Burris
Sam speaks
about his play
during the 2012
New Play Festival
19
YPT Goes International
62 students and community members
served
In FY12, YPT participated
in multiple international
collaborations with artists and
students from El Salvador,
China and Russia. These
exciting new programs offered
the chance for YPT students to
share their stories beyond the
borders of the United States.
On November 11, 2011, YPT students spent a full day collaborating with
students from the EsArtes theater company of Suchitoto, El Salvador.
The students had three hours to create, rehearse and perform original
dramatic pieces together. Students performed their work at the
Canadian Embassy for an audience of distinguished guests.
20
YPT students and Es Artes students
celebrate an exciting day of
collaborative theater
Workshop members and Chinese visitors
write monologues to read aloud
Despite the language barrier,
these students played, worked,
wrote and performed as a group,
reminding everyone at the
Embassy of the power of theater
to overcome boundaries.
Twice during the year, the Young
Playwrights’ Workshop hosted
international artists. On February
1, 2012, eight arts leaders from Russia visited the program, and on March
28, 2012, six children’s theater artists from China stopped by. On both
occasions, the artists enjoyed the opportunity to observe the students at
work, while collaborating with them to create and share original writing.
At the conclusion of the each session, artists and students met in the YPT
Studio to dialogue about theater-making in the United States and abroad.
In June, YPT learned that one of the Russian arts leaders who visited the
Workshop this spring had won a grant to continue working with YPT.
In the coming year, she will use this grant to translate and produce YPT
student plays in Russia.
21
Express Tour
5,000 students and
community members served
The Express Tour shares the work of YPT’s young
playwrights throughout the community in order to
inspire new artists and audiences.
During a seven-week performance series, YPT’s
fall Express Tour company presented 59 free
performances to 5,000 students and community
members at schools, nursing homes, hospitals, community
centers and theaters throughout DC, Virginia and Maryland. On
November 14, 2011, the Tour
stopped at GALA Hispanic
Theatre for a special evening
showcase performance.
Approximately 85% of
Express Tour audience
members included
underserved students and
their families.
The fall Tour marked the third year of an innovative partnership
between YPT and the Maryland Office of Health Care Quality, dedicated
to sharing the work of YPT’s young playwrights with the residents of
Maryland’s nursing homes free of charge. Nursing home residents had
the opportunity to experience vibrant new plays written by young people
throughout the region and to participate in interactive creative workshops
with the visiting artists, their
fellow residents and nursing
home staff. Evaluation results
from YPT’s fall Express
Tour demonstrate that YPT
programming increased
residents’ happiness,
engagement and sense of
creative empowerment.
22
New Writers Now!
350 students and community members
served
New Writers Now! promotes
community dialogue and
respect for young artists.
This series of staged readings
features professional actors
performing plays fresh from
the classroom, followed by a
community discussion about
the plays with the playwrights.
Young writers discover the
value of sharing their work
and recognize that the community
is invested in the stories they tell.
YPT presented two New Writers Now! staged
readings in FY12, each focused around a topic of
interest to our students and community. Both events
attracted an enthusiastic audience and showed local
students the power of their voices.
NEW RS
TE
WRI W!
NO
FREE
MONDAY
OCTOBER 3
6:30PM RECEP
TION
7PM PERFORMANC
E
TH E FIGHT
FOR FA MILY
GALA Hispani
c Theatre • 3333
202.387.9173
14th Street NW
• yptdc.org
• Washington,
DC
student playwrig
hts
professional
actors
bold new voices
New Writers Now! - The Fight for Family on October 3,
2011, asked, “What would you do for your family?” and featured the
work of some of YPT’s young Latino writers, in celebration of Hispanic
Heritage Month.
NEW RS
TE
WRI W!
NO
New Writers Now! Mad Love, held on
February 13, 2012,
explored the question,
MAD LOVE
“How far would you
go for the one you
love?” The evening
included a party for
Anti-Valentine’s Day,
complete with themed music, treats
and activities. The performance saw a
packed house and a rave review by DC
Theatre Scene. “YPT is a revelation,”
said reviewer Larry Bangs. See Reviews
on page 28 for more.
FREE
MONDAY
FEBRUARY 13
6:30PM RECEP
TION
7PM PERFORMANC
E
How can we
learn about
ourselves from
those
who stand apart
?
GALA Hispani
c Theatre • 3333
202.387.9173
14th Street NW
• yptdc.org
• Washington,
DC
student playwrig
hts
professional
actors
bold new voices
23
New Play Festival
550 students and community members served
YPT’s annual New Play
Festival honors plays from a
diverse group of students in a
production that celebrates the
playwright’s craft. Professional
actors, dramaturges and directors
collaborate with student writers
to create an evening of dynamic
theater.
This year, YPT’s New Play Festival celebrated twelve “Featured” plays
written by elementary, middle and high school students. YPT’s 2012
Festival also featured community readings of fourteen “Finalist” plays
at various venues, giving voice to more students than ever before and
bringing live theater to new communities. For the first time ever, all 26
plays were published in a New Play Festival book.
Miranda Pomroy introduces her play,
Mr. Pig, at the first night of the 2012
New Play Festival
24
Nana Gongadze watches her play
and takes notes during rehearsals for
the 2012 New Play Festival
These twelve plays were chosen
from a pool of over 700 plays
created by YPT students in
the spring and fall of 2011.
Featured plays were written by
students at Ballou High School,
Bancroft Elementary School,
Bell Multicultural High School,
Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community
Freedom Public Charter School,
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Lincoln
Multicultural Middle School, Swanson Middle School,
Wakefield High School and Watkins Elementary
School. The plays explored topics that ranged
from a science experiment gone wrong to a young
woman’s battle with a serious illness, and were met
with packed houses and enthusiastic applause.
Official media sponsors:
25
Carmela watches
her play and shares
notes during a
New Play Festival
rehearsal
26
Student Story
Carmela Pascale
When Carmela is offered a chance to do something new, her eyes light
up and she jumps right in. It is both refreshing and astounding. Carmela
heard about YPT before she ever set foot in an In-School Playwriting
Program workshop. The year before, another student at her elementary
school, Money Money Money playwright Paul McCoyer, had earned a certain
amount of acclaim after his play was selected for the 2011 New Play
Festival. Carmela learned of his experience and could only think, “I want
to do that!” On her first day of fifth grade, she marched right up to her
teacher and said, “I want my play produced by YPT”—even though the
program wouldn’t start for a few weeks. When it did, she was certainly
ready to write.
In Carmela’s play, The Magic Bracelet, Eloise is a young girl being picked
on by a group of bullies. What they don’t know is that Eloise has a magic
bracelet with the power to turn into a boy named Jake. Together, Eloise and
Jake take a stand against bullying and show the audience that speaking up
“doesn’t make you a tattletale. It makes you brave.” Carmela impressed the
YPT Reading Committee by tackling such an important issue with maturity,
humor and creative audience participation, and she got her wish to follow
in Paul’s footsteps.
When Carmela attended a rehearsal for her play a week before the 2012
New Play Festival, she grabbed her notebook and carefully took notes
for the cast and crew. When she lifted her head and shared what she had
written, she read, “I love it! You are all awesome! I love the yellow hat.”
Carmela moves on to middle school this year and will be joining YPT’s
Student Advisory Council to advise YPT and share her story with future
young playwrights.
“Getting my play chosen gives me that little push
to think, ‘I can do this.’”
- Carmela Pascale
27
Reviews
remember writing
“myI will
first full play because it
encouraged me to actually
complete what I started.
– Erin, YPT Student
”
greatly appreciate
“howWeYPT
treats these young
playwrights. Hopefully this
experience moves them to do
even greater things. It has
definitely been an amazing and very supportive experience for Julie. She
will continue to write, but YPT was her catalyst to focus and channel her
writing into a play. Hopefully she will have similar opportunities.
– Richard, YPT Parent
”
genuinely values and delights in hearing the voices of its students,
“in YPT
raising their voices to a crescendo, when once, there was only a whisper.
”
– Meg Greene, YPT Teaching Artist
Before doing [YPT], I thought I was a bad writer. I’m realizing the things
“I write
can actually be taken seriously. It’s nice to have reassurance that
it’s something I could do. It’s given
me more of a reason to pursue
writing. Now I feel like I can do this!
– Julie, YPT Student
”
I looked around the room at
“theAsaudience,
I saw smiles, laughs,
[and] empathy on the faces of
our residents. Therefore, I say to
YPT, Job well done!!! – Jackie Bell,
ManorCare Towson
”
“
I believe that I found my destiny; I
found that writing is my passion.
– New Writers Now! Playwright
28
”
“
With all due
respect to the wellheeled professional
companies in D.C., these kids
wrote some of the freshest,
most vibrant, and flat-out
funny theatre that I have
”
seen since last summer’s
Fringe Festival.
Larry Bangs,
DC Theatre Scene
In the Words of a Student
Young Playwrights’ Workshop alumna and Student Advisory Council member
Reyna Rios wrote a poem about her time with YPT before she graduated from
the program.
YPT…
A place of kindness
A place of acceptance
A place of inspiration
A place of admiration
A place of laughter
A place where no one is the master.
A place where everyone’s ideas count
A place where you are free to shout!
A place where collaboration is key
A place where I am free to be me
A place where you are not alone
A place where you aren’t afraid of the unknown
A place where everyone is family
A place where you are free to lose your sanity
A place where you are part of a whole
A place where you are pushed to write more
Invest in YPT and you are allowing me to
keep this small place I call home.
- Reyna Rios
29
Kevin Callejas watches his play
and responds to questions during
a New Play Festival rehearsal
30
Assessments
Each year, YPT evaluates the In-School Playwriting Program using tools
that were developed with professional evaluator Dr. Barry Oreck. Students
participate in controlled writing exercises during the second and eleventh
sessions of the twelve-workshop series. The exercises are designed to measure
students’ skills in specific areas: creative thinking, developing characters,
dramatizing conflict, creative use of language and grammar. YPT conducts
these assessments in order to measure student learning in our programs and
demonstrate our impact on students’ ability to express themselves clearly and
creatively. The data below relate specifically to high school student participants
in YPT’s In-School Program during school year 2011-2012.
Characters: Pre-Assessment
Characters: Post-Assessment
76% of students demonstrated Exemplary or Proficient
skill in creating compelling, active and fully formed
characters when the program ended.
Common Core State Standard for English Language
Arts addressed: W.11-12.3b: Use narrative techniques,
such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and
multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events,
and/or characters.
DC State Learning Standard for Arts Education
addressed: HSP.3.5 Identify how a playwright utilizes
character, dialogue, environment, and time as well as
elements of spectacle, sound, and music to develop a
script.
“
[YPT] expanded
my horizons as a
writer.
”
- Mariel,
YPT Student
31
Creative Thinking: Pre-Assessment
Creative Thinking: Post-Assessment
Upon completion of the program, 68% of our students
were at Exemplary or Proficient levels in their ability to
convey unique points of view and innovative thinking in
their writing.
Common Core State Standard for English Language Arts addressed: W.CCR.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective
technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
DC State Learning Standard for Arts Education addressed: HSA.1.1 Write a
complete theatrical piece (e.g., one-act, 10-minute play, one person show) that
embodies dramatic structure and includes complex characters with unique dialogue
that motivates the action and explicates the conflict.
Language: Pre-Assessment
Language: Post-Assessment
67% of participants were able to manipulate language
to accurately portray character and situation in their
writing.
Common Core State Standard for English Language Arts addressed: L.CCR.3:
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different
contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more
fully when reading or listening.
W.11-12.3d: Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language
to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
32
Financials
Income: $606,990
Individuals
Foundations
13
Earned
32
11
9
35
Corporate
Government
Expense: $606,990
Fundraising
Management
12
5
Programs
83
In FY12, YPT continued to grow our programming and performance opportunities
for thousands of students and audience members throughout the DC region. We
continue to be a lean, student-focused organization, with 83 cents of every dollar
raised going directly into the classroom.
33
Goodbye,
David! Thank
you for seven
amazing
years of
service. Your
dedication
inspired staff,
supporters
and thousands
of DC area
students.
Stay Connected!
34
Donors
INSPIRATION
Kathy Bailey*
Renée Beaver
Jonathan Chace*
Tod and Sophia Gimbel
Miriam Gonzales*
Bryan Greene*
Francine Hope
ITT EXCELIS
Thomas Joseph*
Tony Kalm*
Brian Kennedy*
KPMG
Karen Kok*
Michele Kulerman*
Michael Lainoff and Kathryn Kincaid
Essence Newhoff and Paul Gardullo
Julie Paller*
John Reardon
Patricia Smith
Jennifer Wrenn*
Karen Zacarias*
INSIGHT
Anonymous
John Beyrle and Jocelyn Greene
Rupa Bhattacharyya
David Doggette
Kevin Gahan
Bruce Hirsh and Marney Cheek
The Jerome A. and Deena L. Kaplan Family
Foundation
Phylece LeVally
Alex Dery Snider
Marlin and Brenda Snider
Robert Torrenson, Jr. and Dianne Kemp
Torrenson*
CREATIVITY
Bancroft Parent-Teacher Association
Steve and Nicole Berman*
James Cesena
Adam Cherry*
Catherine Crum
Sandy and Jim Fitzpatrick*
Tammy Halevy
Lawrence Henry
Leland Larsen
David and Dara Morenoff
William and Louisa Newlin
Egan Reich
Jono Smith*
Sue and Larry Soler*
Russell Stevenson and Margaret
Axtell
David and Deana Sullivan
Timothy Westmoreland and Nick
Olcott
Hugh Winkler and Sylvia Becker
Beverly and Chris With
Irene and Alan Wurtzel
IMAGINATION
Anonymous*
Anonymous*
Heidi Anderson*
Ivar Anderson and Atsuko
Horiguchi*
Theo Androus
Carol and Jay Baker
Cristal Baron
Richard Koretz and Judith Bauer
William J. Belleville, Jr.
David, Ann and Cassidy Boomsma
Timothy Burger
Ann Bushmiller and Albert F.
Cacozza, Jr.
Amy Campbell*
Duncan Chaplin
Julie Chung
Norma Cirincione
Patricia and Timothy Cochran
Thomas Cohen and Lisa Fuentes*
Helyn Dallas
Mary Ann de Barbieri
Gus Demeo*
Robert and Andrea Dodds
Karen Doherty*
Leeann Dolbeck
Elizabeth Duncan
Teresa E. Dykes
Deb Fiscella
Lena and Matthew Frumin*
Julia and Manuel Galdo
Kathy Gardner*
Phillip Genera
Ann Gilbert
Arnold and Mary Alice Gonzales
Monica Granovsky
Cathleen Gray
Ken and Anne Greene
Ted Groll
35
Joseph and Merna Guttentag
James and Andrea Hamos
Amy Harbison
Sarah and Oliver Hay
Jack Hersey
John and Claudia Hopkins
Carol Falk and Alan Johnson
Ken Jost
Paul Kaplan*
Karl and Carrol Benner Kindel
Joan Kirchner
George and Lisa Kok
John and Jane Koniszewski*
Patrick Kraich and Barbara Ann Berlin*
Eli Lederman
Nicole Lefrancois
Wallace E. and Julie Lewis*
Bill and Martha Longbrake
Lisa MacDougald
Allison Lince-Bentley
Laurie Loomis de Mancebo*
Lynne Maxwell
Charles McLean
Louise Meng
Jordan Meyer
Margaret Milroy*
Donna Murphy
Walter Nirenberg
Robert Paller*
Rev. Charles and Evelyn Payson
Valerie Piper*
Robert and Dorothy Pohlman
Nancy D. Polikoff
Richard Pribnow
Margarita Prieto*
David Purvis*
Ann Blackman Putzel and Michael Putzel*
Lindsay Read
Maxi Recine*
Robert Rozier*
36
Jennifer Russell*
Ravi Sawhney
Daniel and Teresa Schwartz
Brooks Singer
Daniel Smith*
Harvey Snider*
Chris Stacey
Charles Stephenson
Janis Avila Swartz
Donald Swenholt*
Michael Swigert
Jan Tierney*
Gretchen and Thomas Toles*
Margo Vickers
Marla Viorst
Mark Warren*
Albert Wat
Laura Nicole White
David Winer*
John Wood
Robert Young
Visa Law Group PLLC*
Fernando Zacarias
COURAGE
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous*
Karin Abromaitis
Charles Adams
Nancy and Cliff Adelman
David Ascoli
Debra Ascoli
James Ascoli
Susan Bandler
Erik Berg*
Caroline Beyrle
Katie Boyles
George Bozzini
Michael Breithaupt
Lauren Brookins
Katie Brown
Michael Brown
Joan Chace
Joanne Chace*
Susan Chace*
James Chang
Patricia Chen*
Laurence Costa*
Allyson Currin
Liz Curtin
Mark Dallas
Maia Daniels*
Salena Jo Day*
Leah D’Errico
John Thomas Dowd
Suzanne Edgar
Anne Eigeman
Karol Eller*
Anna Ernst
Thomas Everly*
Phil Fine
Leila Fitzpatrick*
Laura Forman
Karen Fox
Heather Francell
Andre and Mondi Fraser
Luis Botero and Nadine Gabai-Botero*
Mary and Robert Giffin
Ashley Glennon
Arnold Gonzales, Jr.
Thomas and Elaine Grantham*
Janet Greene
Ken and Cathy Greene
Kevin Greenslade
James P. Gregory
John and Aileen Gregory
John Guenther and Elizabeth Oster*
Elizabeth Hartman
Danielle Harvey
Sarah Heuser
Toby Horn
Jim and Debra Husbands
Titilope Ibrahim
Michelle Tang Jackson
Sarah Jencks*
Josephine and Christopher Jordan*
Ernest Joselovitz
Andrew Jost
Chester and Vera Kalm
Nick Kalm
Lauren Kane
Richard Kashmanian and Margaret Egan
Rachel Kaufman
Melvin Keener
Teresa Kern
Kenneth and Robert Kirshbaum
Pete Kopp
Deborah Wicks La Puma
Jessica Larson
Lorri Latek
Brent Lefaive
Maria Lefrancois
Hugh Lester
Sara Lindstrom
Patricia Lloyd
Jane Lowenstein*
Augusto Macedo
Charlie E. Mahone, Jr.
Jerry Malmo*
Shane Mangin
Amy Johnson Marney and Robert Marney*
Claudia Marquez*
Mark Mathewson
Ryan Maxwell
Carolyn McCaffrey
Katherine Mead
Charles McMahon*
Kevin McNamara*
Eloise McNeal
Eric Miller
Robert Miller*
Kat Moghanian
Brigitte Moore
George and Irene Moore
Hazel C. Moore
Marlesa Moore
Seth Moucka
Jennifer Mueller*
Robert and Peachy Murray
Adrienne Nelson
Jennifer Nelson
Alexander Nerska
Christina Nigro*
Veronica Nolan
Ruya Norton
Catherine O’Connor
Kathleen Owen
Vincent Pan*
Carlos Parada and Laura Worby
Karin Palmquist*
Erica Paulson*
Mary Ann Pettorini
Paula Karol Pinha
Rayshawn Pitts
Stanley Porter
Judy Lynn Prince*
Fatima Quander
Sadia Rahman
Brian Rea
Traci Reisner*
Ulrich A. Reumann
John and Anne Rigby*
37
Donors
38
Barak Romanek
Michael Ross*
Suzanne Rothwell
Laura Roulet and Rafael Hernandez
Elizabeth Sablik*
Jeanette Santana-Gonzalez
Cara Scharf
Tory Schatz
Linda and Ken Schatz*
Julie and Jack Schugars
Bruce Scott
Rachel Schwartz*
Joshua Simmons
Justin Smith*
Patricia Smith*
Richard Sommer
Gail Sporer
Mark and Jill Stacey*
Nevzer Stacey*
Mary-Frances Wain and Sean Staples
David Steadman
Katherine Stern
Michael Stewart
Emanuel Strauss
Larry Strauss
Vanessa Strickland
Angela Sugar
Kiki Sweigert
Cynthia Terrell and Robert D. Richie*
Dawn Thomas
Sara Thurman
Victoria Torf
Hoa Tian and Andrew Traiger*
Izolda Trakhtenberg
Nicholas Turner
Andre and Nicole Varchaver*
Alex Vernon
David Wasser*
Jena Watson
Mattie Weber
Elisabeth White
Katie White
Thomas White
Elena Widder
Jessica Wong
Tanya Woods*
Mary and Andy Zehe
Job van Zuijlen
Christy and Joey Watkins
Dina Weavers
Maya Weil
Jill Weiler
Ben White
Elisabeth White
Emily White
Katie White
Thomas White
Elena Widder
Shereen Williams
Ryan Willingham
Sheri Willoughby
Matt and Sarah Wilson
Carol Wilson-Bunn
Laura Worby and Carlos Parada
Wendell Wright
Cora Yamamoto
Abraham Zeigler
*New Play Festival Producer
Funders
The All Souls-Beckner Advancement Fund
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C
Anonymous
BisNow
The Capitol Hill Community Foundation
The Clark-Winchcole Foundation
The Commonweal Foundation
The Community Foundation for the
National Capital Region
The Corina Higginson Youth Trust
The Center for Non-Profit Advancement
- Washington Post Award for
Excellence in Non-Profit
Management (2012 Finalist)
The Donors InVesting in the Arts
(DIVA) Fund
The DC Commission on the Arts and
Humanities
The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer
Foundation
The Find Your Light Foundation
Flippin’ Pizza
The John Edward Fowler Memorial
Foundation
The Gene and Ruth Posner Foundation
The Hermanowski Family Foundation
HomeMade Pizza Company
ITT EXCELIS
The Jerome A. and Deena L. Kaplan
Family Foundation
KPMG
The Lois and Richard England Family
Foundation
The Lainoff Family Foundation
The Leon Foundation
The MARPAT Foundation
The Mead Family Foundation
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz
Foundation
Meridian Hill Pictures LLC
The Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs
The Maryland Office of Health Care
Quality
The Neighborhood Investment Fund
The National Endowment for the Arts
Office of the Deputy Mayor
for Planning and Economic
Development
Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza
The Professional Athletes
Foundation
Prince Charitable Trusts
PNC Bank
The Patricia Smith Charitable Fund
RedRocks Pizzeria
Ronald McDonald House Charities
of Greater Washington
The Verizon Foundation
The Wells Fargo Foundation
The Washington Post Company
WAMU 88.5
WJLA
Although this report has been carefully
checked for accuracy, there is always the
possibility of errors. We apologize for
any omissions or discrepancies. Please
call Alison Beyrle at 202.387.9173 with
any questions or comments.
39
School’s In
New Writers Now! Staged Reading
Monday, October 1, 7pm
Express Tour Showcase
A Production of Vibrant New Plays
Monday, November 26, 7:30pm
Young at Heart
New Writers Now! Staged Reading
Monday, February 11, 7pm
New Play Festival
A Celebration of Bold New Voices
Monday, April 22, 7:30pm
Tuesday, April 23, 7:30pm
Young Playwrights’ Workshop
Presents
Daring new work written and performed
by YPT’s student theater ensemble
Monday, June 17, 7pm
Volunteer with Young Playwrights’ Theater!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact
Laurie Ascoli, Program Associate, for more information.
lascoli@yptdc.org