Carmen Keel grew up loving musical theater and performing arts. She was a teacher for more than 12 years. She taught high school students and eventually started teaching music to elementary students at Lincoln Elementary. “It was the first time I ever taught elementary school and it was a bit challenging,” Keel said. “One of the things I did was start a musical theater club at the school and they never had one like it before and musical theater has always been my passion.”
Keel was super excited to see 17 kids join her club. “The first half of the semester was teaching the students about musical theater,” Keel said. “I was surprised to find out that many students didn’t know what musical theater was or that some of their favorite movies started out on the stage before they were on the big screen. I wanted to make sure I introduced them to musical theater with the hopes of sparking an interest into something new. I wanted them to feel welcomed and to motivate them.”
As the school year went on, Keel saw her musical theater kids blossom into individuals and as a group. This is when she came home and told her husband that she wanted to open up a children’s theater in Plant City. Spotlight Plant City was born.
Keel left her teaching job at Lincoln Elementary to focus full-time on Spotlight Plant City. “We are still in the beginning stages of Spotlight Plant City,” Keel said. “We are in our second year and we have been fundraising so our program can be completely free for children who want to be a part of it at Lincoln Elementary.”
There are many benefits for children who attend musical theater programs. Musical theater can help increase creativity. Theater stretches the skills of imagination. Unlike the realism of television or movies, theater requires a different kind of resourcefulness and flexibility.
It can help boost grades and test scores for students. According to the American Alliance of Theater & Education (AATE), theater students typically scored 65 points higher on their SATs and 34 points higher on the SAT math component than their non-theater peers. Additionally, other research has shown that theater kids also demonstrated improved reading comprehension, including reading strategy and attitude toward reading.
According to the International Literacy Association, students who experience theater education at any age show better attendance, greater concentration, and increased motivation to learn.
Since not all students can participate in theater programs, that doesn’t mean the learning benefits aren’t still available. Students who watch theater productions are exposed to a wide variety of spoken and lyrical language, which can help your child pick up skills that help with mastery of language and expanded vocabulary.
Musical theater can also build self-esteem. At the National Theatre (NT) in London, the education department worked with children ages seven to 10 from eight schools for three years. The students studied Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and performed in a storytelling program, Word Alive. Compared to their peers who did not engage with the NT, these children showed increased self-esteem and a greater aptitude for speaking and listening. (www.parents.com) “I have seen my students who were shy at the beginning of the year become more outgoing and loved talking about the musical theater program by the end of the year,” Keel said.
Keel hopes to bring Spotlight Plant City to other schools in the Plant City area. “My hope for the New Year is to be able to bring Spotlight to other schools and see more students become involved with our free musical theater program,” Keel said.
If you’d like to learn more about Spotlight Plant City or if you are a local school leader who would like Spotlight Plant City to be a part of your school, you can visit their website at www.spotlightpc.com or email Keel at carmen@spotlightpc.com.