Performance as Education

Goals

The goal of Performance as Education is to improve attendance and retention rates of high school students in Warden, Washington, to increase the numbers of Latino and other underserved high school students who enroll in college and community colleges in the state, and to produce professional, community-based theatre.

Performance as Education seeks to demonstrate that activities such as theatre improve students' writing skills and nurture individual aspirations and long-term goals in ways missing from existing pre-college and early awareness programs.

"One way to nurture these students is through the use of theatre, which gives students a different avenue for exploring their culture and their own personal life experiences," says John Fraire, the program's founder and former director.