ABOUT US
Director Jennifer Wescoe is proudly serving as both a Public Speaking and Drama teacher at
Freedom High School in Bethlehem, PA, where she has been employed for 17 years. Wescoe loves working with all the talented groups of kids that come through the theatre company every year. With a lot of hard work, support, extreme dedication from incredible casts, crews, musicians, volunteers, and a little bit of magic, the curtain opens and the stage lights up to delight audiences with exciting performances show after show!
Some of our fine students are elected as officers to serve the theatre company and dedicate extra time and effort with management responsibilities. We would like to thank them for their service.
Theatre Company Officers 2016-2017
Freedom High School in Bethlehem, PA, where she has been employed for 17 years. Wescoe loves working with all the talented groups of kids that come through the theatre company every year. With a lot of hard work, support, extreme dedication from incredible casts, crews, musicians, volunteers, and a little bit of magic, the curtain opens and the stage lights up to delight audiences with exciting performances show after show!
Some of our fine students are elected as officers to serve the theatre company and dedicate extra time and effort with management responsibilities. We would like to thank them for their service.
Theatre Company Officers 2016-2017
Co-Presidents: Joseph Vasquez, Christina Concilio
Vice President: Lucy Moeller
Stage Crew Technical Theatre Managers: Emily Krauss, Micaela Posh
Business Managers: Josh Vazquez, Michael Harding, Shannon Callaghan, Shaun McNulty
Publicity Managers: Erin Cavanaugh, Olivia Daprile
Stage Manager: Joseph Vasquez
Assistant Stage Manager: Mitchell Hendricks
Painting Liaisons: Micaela Posh, Michael Harding
Prop Liaisons: Jalon Mathis, Matt Vera, Lexi Connolly
FHSTC Record Keepers: Joseph Vasquez, Jess Sturm
Dance Captains: Kelly Donah, Olivia Daprile, Jalon Mathis, Anna Cannavo
Web Designers: Christina Concilio, Joseph Vasquez
Vice President: Lucy Moeller
Stage Crew Technical Theatre Managers: Emily Krauss, Micaela Posh
Business Managers: Josh Vazquez, Michael Harding, Shannon Callaghan, Shaun McNulty
Publicity Managers: Erin Cavanaugh, Olivia Daprile
Stage Manager: Joseph Vasquez
Assistant Stage Manager: Mitchell Hendricks
Painting Liaisons: Micaela Posh, Michael Harding
Prop Liaisons: Jalon Mathis, Matt Vera, Lexi Connolly
FHSTC Record Keepers: Joseph Vasquez, Jess Sturm
Dance Captains: Kelly Donah, Olivia Daprile, Jalon Mathis, Anna Cannavo
Web Designers: Christina Concilio, Joseph Vasquez
OUr Mission
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History of the Freedom High School Theatre Company and Educational Outreach
The Freedom High School Theatre Company has a strong history in educational outreach with schools throughout the entire Bethlehem Area School District for the past fifteen years. In addition to performing at least two mainstage productions per school year as part of its extracurricular involvement, we have also built partnerships with all BASD elementary, middle, and high schools via outreach opportunities offered during the school day. FHSTC is student-driven, and many of our outreach plans both develop directly from and are facilitated by our student participants. When we earned a Bethlehem Area Education Grant in 2004, our FHSTC students designed and led the “BAEF Summer Acting Camp,” in which elementary school students throughout the district participated in a three week theatre camp that concluded with the performance of student-generated “Fairy Tales With a Twist” plays.
In addition to the BAEF-sponsored camp, FHS theatre students have also performed plays based on children’s literature at local elementary schools for the past fifteen years. Our Advanced Drama theatre students have led workshops and participated in student-generated interactive plays with the students of BASD’s SPARK program and all-day kindergarten classes. When FHSTC received an anonymous donation in 2009, we utilized the money to run a district-wide contest to provide a special showing of Charlotte’s Web during the school day. Each participating classroom teacher provided a sample of student work based on classroom activities they participated in when reading the children’s novel with their students. In 2010, students partnered Muhlenberg College’s Institute for Christian Understanding and performed the educational Holocaust awareness production of Face Forward for the entire Freedom student body. Over forty Holocaust survivors shared their stories with groups of high school students during various breakout sessions. FHS theatre company and SADD received NYLC “Project Ignition” grants in both 2011 and 2012. With this money, we sponsored several safe driving events for both Liberty and Freedom High School students and parents, including hosting Muhlenberg college alumna Jacy Good, who became a nationally-recognized speaker after her parents were killed as a result of a distracted driving accident caused by another vehicle. FHS also won a 100K grant through State Farm’s “Celebrate My Drive” program in 2012. The student-driven “Project SOS: Students Own Safety” program focused on educating students throughout the BASD about driver, pedestrian, and bicycle safety with interactive theatre opportunities. We traveled to all sixteen elementary schools to perform “Super Improver Safety Squad Skits,” led acting workshops focusing on road safety at all four middle schools, and facilitated a free “Project SOS Summer Safety Theatre Camp” for over one hundred and thirty elementary and middle school students in our district.
Providing informative, interactive, accessible, and and fun educational opportunities for students throughout the district is something that the students of FHS Theatre Company view as extremely valuable. Partnering with other classroom teachers and principals across the BASD community promotes an environment where students are actively engaged in programs that demonstrate our district’s emphasis on valuing arts in education while also serving as a growth opportunity for students at all levels. Earning this BAEF grant would not only benefit the younger people our high school students mentor, but it would also provide an important real-world leadership experience for our high school theatre students.
The Freedom High School Theatre Company has a strong history in educational outreach with schools throughout the entire Bethlehem Area School District for the past fifteen years. In addition to performing at least two mainstage productions per school year as part of its extracurricular involvement, we have also built partnerships with all BASD elementary, middle, and high schools via outreach opportunities offered during the school day. FHSTC is student-driven, and many of our outreach plans both develop directly from and are facilitated by our student participants. When we earned a Bethlehem Area Education Grant in 2004, our FHSTC students designed and led the “BAEF Summer Acting Camp,” in which elementary school students throughout the district participated in a three week theatre camp that concluded with the performance of student-generated “Fairy Tales With a Twist” plays.
In addition to the BAEF-sponsored camp, FHS theatre students have also performed plays based on children’s literature at local elementary schools for the past fifteen years. Our Advanced Drama theatre students have led workshops and participated in student-generated interactive plays with the students of BASD’s SPARK program and all-day kindergarten classes. When FHSTC received an anonymous donation in 2009, we utilized the money to run a district-wide contest to provide a special showing of Charlotte’s Web during the school day. Each participating classroom teacher provided a sample of student work based on classroom activities they participated in when reading the children’s novel with their students. In 2010, students partnered Muhlenberg College’s Institute for Christian Understanding and performed the educational Holocaust awareness production of Face Forward for the entire Freedom student body. Over forty Holocaust survivors shared their stories with groups of high school students during various breakout sessions. FHS theatre company and SADD received NYLC “Project Ignition” grants in both 2011 and 2012. With this money, we sponsored several safe driving events for both Liberty and Freedom High School students and parents, including hosting Muhlenberg college alumna Jacy Good, who became a nationally-recognized speaker after her parents were killed as a result of a distracted driving accident caused by another vehicle. FHS also won a 100K grant through State Farm’s “Celebrate My Drive” program in 2012. The student-driven “Project SOS: Students Own Safety” program focused on educating students throughout the BASD about driver, pedestrian, and bicycle safety with interactive theatre opportunities. We traveled to all sixteen elementary schools to perform “Super Improver Safety Squad Skits,” led acting workshops focusing on road safety at all four middle schools, and facilitated a free “Project SOS Summer Safety Theatre Camp” for over one hundred and thirty elementary and middle school students in our district.
Providing informative, interactive, accessible, and and fun educational opportunities for students throughout the district is something that the students of FHS Theatre Company view as extremely valuable. Partnering with other classroom teachers and principals across the BASD community promotes an environment where students are actively engaged in programs that demonstrate our district’s emphasis on valuing arts in education while also serving as a growth opportunity for students at all levels. Earning this BAEF grant would not only benefit the younger people our high school students mentor, but it would also provide an important real-world leadership experience for our high school theatre students.