Front and Center Theatre Collaborative to Celebrate a Decade with CCUSD

On Thursday, January 16, from 7 to 8 p.m., Front & Center Theatre Collaborative will kick off its 10th anniversary celebration with a theatrical Family Fun Night at El Rincon Elementary that gives families a glimpse into their fifth graders’ experiences. The event is free, and all CCUSD families are invited.

One of F&C’s six art partners, 24th Street Theatre provides all fifth-grade CCUSD students with their theatre education program called Enter Stage Right (ESR). Teaching artists visit the classrooms for pre and post workshops with a field trip to 24th Street Theatre in between. During the field trip, students see how a show is made and learn a lifetime’s worth of history, production and the craft of live theatre. They also learn about empathy, race relations, language arts and math.

“The timing for this Family Fun Night is great,” said CCUSD Arts Coordinator Heather Moses. “El Rincon’s fifth-graders will have their 24th Street Theatre field trip that morning, while La Ballona and El Marino students have already visited 24th Street Theatre this school year. Linwood Howe and Farragut fifth-graders will be going later this month. All families can get a taste of what their students have learned or are going to learn.”

“24th Street Theatre works with dozens of school districts, and we have been so impressed over the past eight years with Culver City Unified’s unmatched commitment to the arts,” said 24th Street Theatre’s Executive Director Jay McAdams. “We’re honored to be part of Front and Center, and could not be more thrilled to be the kick-off theatre partner for F&C’s 10th anniversary.”

CCUSD Front and Center Theatre Collaborative is a unique partnership of six theatre companies that provide in-school and after-school workshops, assemblies and field trips to CCUSD’s students in TK through high school. The partners are 24th Street Theatre, The Actors’ Gang, Center Theatre Group, Story Pirates, We Tell Stories and Young Storytellers. This partnership, which started 10 years ago with seed funding from Sony Pictures Entertainment, now creates an unparalleled collective impact giving CCUSD the highest concentration of theatre arts programming per student of any Los Angeles County school district.

The Culver City Education Foundation (CCEF) has been financially supporting the Collaborative with money donated from multiple funders in addition to Sony Pictures Entertainment, including The Carol and James Collins Foundation, Christina Warfield, and CCUSD PTAs and Booster Clubs.

“CCEF is proud of our role as the backbone organization for the Front and Center Theatre Collaborative,” said CCEF Interim Executive Director Wendy Hamill. ”This amazing program is a stellar example of how CCEF can pool private donations and provide exceptional opportunities for all Culver City students.”

Join CCEF and 24th Street Theatre from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 16, at El Rincon Elementary School, 11177 Overland Avenue (at the corner of Overland and Sawtelle). Remember, ALL CCUSD families are invited. And join the #CulverCreates community on Facebook and Instagram, and post your own photos of CCUSD artistic endeavors, tagging #culvercreates.

Culver Pride

The Actors' Gang

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