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Our Mission Statement
ENCORE is a non-profit Children’s Theatre Company that strives, through arts education and mentorship programs, to instruct children and young adults, in all aspects of the performing arts and to teach life-skills and instill values that translate to the world beyond the stage.
ENCORE, through a range of theatrical learning experiences, cultivates an environment where young people can grow and thrive, both as individuals and as members of a cooperative community. ENCORE engages in a multi-faceted approach to theatre education. We emphasize not only the traditional elements of acting, singing, dancing, technical theatre, and arts appreciation, but make it our priority to help in the development of respectful, thoughtful, reflective, and aware young people who are comfortable reaching out to help others and who see themselves as a positive part of their communities. ENCORE nurtures students in a home-away-from home atmosphere--a place where they are treasured as people. Our goal is to provide a setting where students feel free to be themselves, able to explore the unique creative elements that exist within them, where they feel encouraged, loved, wanted, and special, and where they can make lifelong friends.
ENCORE is committed to the idea that it is the journey to the performance--rather than the performance itself--that is most essential in theatre education. Through social and cooperative learning, as well as focused mentorship, ENCORE guides students through full-scale musical productions, workshops, camp programs, special projects and charitable outreach efforts. As students grow in confidence, poise, presentational skills and self-discipline, these programs also allow students to discover the importance and learn the value of personal accountability, shared responsibility, teamwork, communication and compassion, as well as the importance of living with honesty and integrity. The comprehensive community we work to build within our organization provides a structure that allows a spirit of mentorship to exist not only between staff and students but also amongst the students themselves. Older kids become mentors to younger ones, peers support one another, and everyone works together to achieve common goals.
At ENCORE, our efforts go beyond the development of theatrically skilled kids. We are supporting who they will become. We recognize that our students are more than the next big stars; they are the managers, teachers, doctors, community leaders, entrepreneurs, police officers, and parents of tomorrow. As we work to foster growth and understanding about the importance of responsibility to each other and working together to achieve goals, we are conscious of the ripple effect that is set into motion each time we interact with a child. It is our goal to ensure they carry into the world the openness, self-confidence, supportive attitudes and team mindset that they learn with us. Putting on great quality theatrical performances is but one happy by-product of our core effort and a natural outgrowth of the respect students have for themselves, their mentors and peers, as well as for the art of theatre.
ENCORE strives to be a resource and an asset to our community–a place where the beauty and power of the arts, the development of character and the value of the individual are emphasized together in order to positively impact young lives and the world in which we all live. It is our vision and our mission, through the vehicle of the theatre arts, to nurture and inspire, to encourage and support, and to make a lasting contribution to the growth of responsible, caring, compassionate human beings.
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