Drama Education Students Teach and Learn

A room full of excited and talkative middle school students can be one wildly energetic place.

But in July, three graduate students in Catholic University's Master of Arts in Theater Education (M.A.T.E.) had no trouble turning all that energy into a learning experience for both the kids and themselves.

Graduate students Angela Ramacci, Jonneen Edwards, and Cathy Mays assisted Rosalind Flynn, assistant clinical professor and head of the M.A.T.E program, with theater activities and scenes during the Program for Academic and Leadership Skills (PALS) camp held July 18, 19, 23, and 24 at St. Anthony's Church in Brookland.

Young campers learned a variety of acting techniques under the watchful eyes of the graduate students, who will take their enhanced directing skills back to their own classrooms in the fall.

"Show me a really cool teenager," Flynn called out to the kids to get them warmed up. They jumped into poses. "Show me a lottery winner!" and then, "Show me a zombie!"

Flynn said she arranged this opportunity for her students "so they would have some practical experience. You can talk about how to direct 20 kids, but it's a whole different thing to do it." She wanted a smaller setting to allow them to observe each other, and the PALS program fit the bill.

Graduate student Mays, a teacher at Montgomery Christian Institute who earned a bachelor's degree in the 1970s from CUA's drama program, quizzed the class after they completed a short scene. "What did you enjoy about the acting?" she asked. They shouted excitedly, "Thinking like the character!" "Making up lines!"

M.A.T.E. enrolled its first class in 2007, Flynn said. Enrollment is rolling throughout the year, and all the required courses are offered in the evenings, allowing for students working full time to attend more easily, she said. Thirteen students are currently enrolled in various stages of the M.A.T.E. program, and 15 people have graduated from the program since 2009.

She added she's worked hard, along with drama department professors Patrick Tuite, head of the master's program, and Thomas Donahue, on getting a program off the ground the drama department calls the "M.A.T.E. in Three Summers." This program allows students to attend classes over three summers to earn a master's degree. The three graduate students who participated in the PALS camp are enrolled in that program.

M.A.T.E. in Three Summers "can be great for teachers," Flynn said, especially theater teachers, who are working during the week directing plays and teaching, leaving little time for graduate school.

Flynn, who earned a bachelor's degree from CUA's drama program, had worked for the last 20 years as a part-time lecturer in drama education at the University, and has been head of the M.A.T.E. program since 2007. This summer, she was hired full time for the M.A.T.E program.

"I'm pretty excited about that," she said, adding that she'll now have more time to invest in her teaching and in helping the program grow. "I meet the most delightful and interesting people" who are interested in the program, she added.

For more information on enrolling in the M.A.T.E. program, go to http://drama.cua.edu/graduate/mate.cfm .To see a photo gallery, go to http://go.cua.edu/galleries/index.cfm/gallery/view/179 .