The History of Creative Drama in District 65
Creative Drama was introduced into the Evanston/Skokie school system in the late 1920's by Winifred Ward, Northwestern University Jrofessor and founder of the American Creative Drama Movement. For thirty years drama specialists trained by Miss Ward and her successors, Rita Criste, Barbara McIntyre and Anne Thurman taught drama to Evanston students in grades four through eight. Prior to the 1970's several pilot projects were developed and implemented in which talented and gifted primary and elementary students received drama instruction. District-wide drama classes, however, were limited to grades four through eigh t.
The Evanston Children's Theatre, founded by Miss Ward in the late 1920's, was a joint venture with Northwestern University. Fully staged plays for young people were presented in the Evanston junior high school auditoriums. They were directed by District 65 and Northwestern teachers with adult roles being filled by Northwestern students and children's roles being played by junior high students. This endeavor enabled all school children to experience live theatre at very low prices. When rising insurance costs forced the University to withdraw from the program it was reorganized as Theatre 65 and continued production until the early 1970's when funding cuts necessitated its closure.
The Elementary Creative Drama Program, as it had been conceived and imptemented, was terminated, as were those in music and visual arts, during the funding cutbacks of the 1970's. For over ten years the drama program was administered by a Drama Chairperson who developed a drama curriculum for use by classroom teachers, provided materials and in-service training for classroom teachers, and visited elementary classrooms on a rotating basis. Specialists continued to teach drama in the middle schools.
In 1983 a K-5 Fine Arts Citizen's Committee, appointed by the District 65 Board of Education, surveyed existing fine arts programs in surrounding areas, familiarized itself with recent trends in fine arts education, and identified and charted exemplary fine arts programs throughout the United States. This report was submitted to Superintendent Robert P. Campbell in February of 1984. Later that spring the Board of Education voted to reinstate fine arts classes taught by specialists in the elementary schools. During the 1984-85 school year music and visual arts were reinstated in grades K-5 while drama was offered only in grades four and five, as it had been in the past. A survey of District 65 principals, classroom teachers, and drama specialists taken during the spring of 1985 indicated strong support for extending the drama program to the primary grades. The superintendent recommended the inclusion of grades K-3 in the drama program and the Board approved his proposal in the summer of 1985.
By Nancy Ball
The Evanston Children's Theatre, founded by Miss Ward in the late 1920's, was a joint venture with Northwestern University. Fully staged plays for young people were presented in the Evanston junior high school auditoriums. They were directed by District 65 and Northwestern teachers with adult roles being filled by Northwestern students and children's roles being played by junior high students. This endeavor enabled all school children to experience live theatre at very low prices. When rising insurance costs forced the University to withdraw from the program it was reorganized as Theatre 65 and continued production until the early 1970's when funding cuts necessitated its closure.
The Elementary Creative Drama Program, as it had been conceived and imptemented, was terminated, as were those in music and visual arts, during the funding cutbacks of the 1970's. For over ten years the drama program was administered by a Drama Chairperson who developed a drama curriculum for use by classroom teachers, provided materials and in-service training for classroom teachers, and visited elementary classrooms on a rotating basis. Specialists continued to teach drama in the middle schools.
In 1983 a K-5 Fine Arts Citizen's Committee, appointed by the District 65 Board of Education, surveyed existing fine arts programs in surrounding areas, familiarized itself with recent trends in fine arts education, and identified and charted exemplary fine arts programs throughout the United States. This report was submitted to Superintendent Robert P. Campbell in February of 1984. Later that spring the Board of Education voted to reinstate fine arts classes taught by specialists in the elementary schools. During the 1984-85 school year music and visual arts were reinstated in grades K-5 while drama was offered only in grades four and five, as it had been in the past. A survey of District 65 principals, classroom teachers, and drama specialists taken during the spring of 1985 indicated strong support for extending the drama program to the primary grades. The superintendent recommended the inclusion of grades K-3 in the drama program and the Board approved his proposal in the summer of 1985.
By Nancy Ball