EDUCATIONAL THEATRE COMPANY

As ETC faces the continued pandemic in 2021, we are continuing to find new ways to reach all members of our community, by diversifying our programming to include both virtual and in-person learning, working directly with partner organizations to breakdown technology barriers for our participants, and continuing to adapt our lessons to meet the needs of all learners. The ETC community is vast, covering ages and locations beyond other similar organizations. Our goal is to reach more students ages 3-103 where they are - by increasing our offerings at more schools, more community centers, more senior living homes, and continuing our virtual programming even as we begin to meet in-person again. By focusing our administrative work for the limited number of staff we have, ETC aims to diversify our funding, bring in increased donations, and in turn re-expand our dedicated staff of teaching artists to pre-pandemic employment levels.

In 2020, ETC made the aggressive decision to pivot to online learning almost immediately during the COVID-19 shutdown, offering free online ETC-on-Film discussions by the end of March 2020. The experiences of changing our programming during the pandemic have shown that our reach can increase by working with students both in-person and online. As things begin to return to "normal," we recognize that not all of our students will have the interest or ability to meet with us in-person. ETC plans to continue to offer virtual programming even as we return to in-person programming as well, continuing in our commitment to eliminate the transportation barrier to high-quality theatre education.

At the beginning of 2021, ETC's Board of Directors is working at capacity with a group of active and engaged community members providing time, money, communication, and leadership for the company as a whole. Movement within the board has been made to increase our goal number of board members, opening up more positions for members of our community to better diversify our leadership. ETC's Executive Director and our Board Governance Committee are working with outside partners to identify and recruit a broader group of board members moving forward. By listening to new voices, and with the ongoing support of our senior staff, ETC is prepared to follow the extreme work we did in 2020 to continue to connect with our community in a variety of ways moving forward.

What began as a small company offering in-school Shakespeare programming, has spent the years growing into a year-round theatre education organization. Each summer, we offer upwards of 30 summer camps for ages 3-18 while providing work for 40-50 artists in the community, including teenage interns and counselors who gain both work experience and gainful employment. Throughout the school year, ETC is in schools throughout the National Capital Area providing after school classes and in-school programming. Our partnership with McKinley Elementary in Arlington was identified three years ago as the longest running arts partnership in Arlington Public Schools' history, and it continues to this day. Our STEAM (Science-Technology-Engineering-ARTS-Math) programming has grown beyond after school classes to include in-school partnerships designed to reach learners of all styles using theatre to teach core subjects often overlooked by other arts programming. Throughout it all, ETC has remained committed to supporting teaching artists in the area, providing work, support, and education to our staff whether a one-week employee or a core staff member with us for years.
In March of 2020, ETC pivoted nearly immediately to online programming, offering our first free ETC-on-Film online discussion by the end of the month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have successfully moved all of our programming online - 28 summer camps, our Main Stage Residency program, Shakespeare-in-the-Schools, STEAM classes, after school classes, ETC-on-Film, and Creative Age - while adding a new weekly class for adults. The time working from home has opened up the ability for our senior staff to better address the diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility needs of the company, working directly with the Board to create a new three-year strategic plan with DEIA at the center. We continue to seek partners in this work, knowing that our own education and work is ongoing and will continue indefinitely.