Elementary and Middle School Theater Educators Share Ideas at Annual Roundtable

June 12, 2025

Sixteen educators and directors gathered on June 11th to share challenges, questions, strategies, ideas, and resources for teaching elementary and middle school theater. The session expanded on knowledge and resources shared at last summer’s roundtable, and welcomed both returning and new participants to the group.

Educators participate in the Elementary and Middle School Theater Educator + Director Roundtable on June 11, 2025

The agenda for the day was shaped by the participants themselves. As they registered, participants listed topics, questions, and/or challenges they wanted to discuss along with favorite theater games, exercises, and resource(s) they were willing to share. It really was a day led by the group! One theater educator reflected, “I plan to use and adapt one of the [shared] lesson plan ideas that I’d been thinking about earlier.” Someone else noted, “I wrote down some good leads for new teacher resources.”

A recurring theme was how good it is to be able to talk with others who teach in a similar role. “I am so thankful for this community of folks, and the longer I have been around, the more I am beginning to recognize people and feel comfortable asking for their advice/support/ideas!”

The Roundtable was facilitated by Dr. Stephanie Lein Walseth, Theater Education specialist in Professional Development and Resource Programs at Perpich Center. Lein Walseth reflected on the day, “What a joy it was to be a part of Elementary and Middle School Theater Educators and Directors group. Together we laughed, we played (with purpose!), we forged new connections, and deepened established relationships. I look forward to building on this collaborative momentum and continuing to strengthen this educator community.”

Educators participate in the Elementary and Middle School Theater Educator + Director Roundtable on June 11, 2025

Theater educators are one of the smallest subsets of arts educators, and often their professional development workshops are geared towards instructors working at the high school level. This event differed as it focused on those teaching students in Elementary and Middle schools. The event was free for participants and certificates for clock hours were given afterward.

Stephanie Lein Walseth, Ph.D. is a theater educator, artist, administrator, and scholar with over 25 years experience working with students and artists of all ages. She has served as an affiliate faculty member at Augsburg University since 2011, and as an instructor and curriculum developer at the University of Minnesota and Penumbra Theatre Company. In the professional theater realm, she served decade-long tenures with Full Circle Theater and Penumbra, worked in leadership roles with Theater Mu/Mu Performing Arts and Mixed Blood Theatre, and served in artistic and/or administrative roles with Sod House Theater, Playwrights’ Center, Guthrie Theater, Native Voices at the Autry, Portland Stage Company, and Oakland Theater Project, among many others. Stephanie received her Ph.D. in Theatre Historiography from the University of Minnesota, and her research focuses on African American, Asian American, and Native American theater, and the institutional politics of relationships between theaters of color and predominantly white institutions. Her writing has appeared in HowlRound, Theatre Topics, e-misférica, The Baylor Journal of Theatre and Performance, and the Palgrave anthology Theater, Performance and Change. In her role at Perpich since 2018, Stephanie is pleased to support K-12 and College/University theater educators across the state, as well as all educators interested in using the tools of theater in their pedagogical practice.