ISTA - International Schools Theatre Association

 

INTRO
Welcome to the first File O'Facts of the new ISTA year! We have experienced a fantastic response to Festival and TAPS bookings so far - a record for us with 7 out of the 24 events on offer now full! Please keep bookings coming in over the summer and even though it's the busiest time of the year - check out our calendar if you haven't already done so - to ensure you and your students get to an ISTA event in the coming year.

EVENTS
2008-2009
The following festivals - do need your support. So if you haven't yet booked for a festival next year we still have spaces at the following:
High School: Zurich, Dubai, Izmir, Singapore, Ghana, Chile
Middle School: Bucharest, Bahrain, Shanghai, Hong Kong
Primary School: Dusseldorf
Bonsai: Sao Paulo

There are also spaces at the Bangkok and Penang TAPS...

Information on all our events is updated regularly and posted on our Event Profile Pages - simply head to the 2008-2009 event calendar and double click on the appropriate event...

ADMIN (In alphabetical order!)

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMME
Do check the names of staff confirmed for all our events, and if you know staff are coming to your area - and have the funding available - let me know if you would like to have an artist in residence during our 2008-2009 year.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
I am absolutely delighted to welcome Anthony Cunningham onto the Board of Trustees. At our interim Board meeting in March, the Trustees decided to increase the number on the Board from 6-7. This is to reflect the increasing demand for strong and effective governance within ISTA as we continue to grow. Anthony teaches at the American School in the Hague (a Global Patron school) and he is also a staff member and an Artistic Director with ISTA. He was nominated by Jeff Aitken and we are confident that Anthony's experience as an international school teacher, along with his in-depth knowledge of the organisation can only enhance the governance of ISTA in the coming years. Anthony's biography and statement are included at the end of this bulletin.

I am also delighted to announce that Ian Pike and Darren Scully, will be continuing in their role as Trustees for a further 3 year term of office.

CONTACTS
Please keep us up to date over the coming months if you are leaving your current school - and send us the names of replacement teachers plus emails - thanks.

PERSONNEL
Please note that Liane Campbell finished with us at the end of May, in order to resume her teaching work in Australia. She is no longer one of ISTA's personnel but will continue to work with us as Regional Representative for Australasia; and will be on staff for the foreseeable future. I am sure you will all join me in thanking Liane for all her contributions to the organisation and wish her well in the future.
And welcome to Jo Doidge (Jo currently does the art work for Scene and for all our publications, postcards, flyers etc) who will be taking over the management of the website... We are delighted to have her on board.

PUBLICATIONS
Teaching Ensemble Technique in Theatre by Patricia Zich will be re-published in September and available for all members to purchase online.

RENEWING MEMBERSHIP FOR 2008-2009
While we will be moving to an automatic system of membership renewal as of the end of this year; we do need membership renewal forms from all existing members. Please don't forget to complete this online form before you head off for the summer.

RESEARCH
N/A

RESOURCES
N/A

SCENE
Thanks to all of you who have sent congratulations on Issue 4 - it is much appreciated.

SCHOLARSHIPS
All recipients of scholarships from 2007-2008 will be posted onto the website over the summer.

TEACHER ENRICHMENT
N/A

WEBSITE
N/A

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
School/Organisation:
The American International School in Israel and Chet Passerella
American Cooperative School of Tunis, Tunisia and Barbara Van Pilsum
The British School of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Jacqui Saysell
The Canadian International School Hong Kong and Erin Keefe
International College Spain and Katie Lumsden
King William College, UK and Sally Filho
North Hall High School, Georgia, USA and Anita Cox
West Hall High School, Georgia, USA and Laurie Ecke

Individual:
Christine Anketell, Kilmore International School, Australia

POSTSCRIPT
We'll take a break in July and August, with the next File O'Facts being sent to all members at the beginning of September. And I'm delighted that this will be in a new format. We'll be working with Matt Collins at Precise Minds (the company that host our website) and with Jo Doidge, to create a new e-bulletin that will be sent directly to all members email addresses at the beginning of each month. A great initiative and something that will improve communication within the organisation...

For those of you eagerly awaiting the end of term - have a fantastic summer!

Sally Robertson
sallyr@ista.co.uk

NEW BOARD MEMBER - ANTHONY CUNNINGHAM

Biography:
Anthony Cunningham is entering his twentieth year as a theatre teacher. He was born in Canada and has studied/taught in Sweden, Peru, Turkey, and presently resides in The Netherlands where he runs the high school theatre program at The American School of The Hague. Anthony's interest in the relationship between drama and education was inspired when he began his theatre studies in Montreal. After his teaching degree, he took courses in drama therapy and worked in Toronto with the homeless, mentally ill, and students with behavioural issues; he piloted a program for drug intervention in the school setting. Anthony has been proud to be associated with ISTA for 12 years.

Statement:
ISTA has been important to me for many years, and I have loved watching it expand and grow in positive directions. I have seen the organization's ability to change my own students' lives. I believe theatre is a powerful means of educating and inspiring, and I want my work as a trustee to always be cemented in this belief. I know that those of us who teach in the arts understand that it is a full on vocation. I want to be able to continue giving teachers enriched experiences to validate or to rediscover their own muses and resources. I want to see ISTA continue to find ways to reach out to students who are not as privileged as many international school students. I believe my eclectic teaching background (TOK, Literature, Creative Writing, MYP, I.B. Theatre) combined with enriched and diverse ISTA experiences (staff member, festival host, TAPs workshop leader, Global School Patron member, Artistic Director with continued training in Norway this year) will make me a contributing member with many perspectives in yet another ensemble: the board of trustees.