Jumbos bring performing arts education to local Somerville middle-school students

     Senior Stephanie Coplan is a fine example of the type of student that Tufts Admissions brochures so often boast about. Demonstrating a high level of community involvement both on and off campus, she uses her love for performing arts to teach Somerville middle-school students about history.
    Coplan's project, called the Broadway2Broadway Initiative, combines the students' current social studies curriculum with an after-school program, where they have the opportunity to learn about all aspects of musical theater, including singing, writing, acting and dancing. Funded by the Tisch Civic Engagement Fund, Broadway2Broadway provides students with an educational experience they otherwise wouldn't be able to enjoy.
    "The school is really busy, and they don't have the time to give these kids a proper performing arts education," Coplan said.
    Coplan's experience with community service began in high school where she played piano at hospitals for children and wounded soldiers. When she began college, however, Coplan stopped devoting as much time to community service. That changed this year when Coplan, a resident assistant (RA), moved into Haskell Hall, where a huge focus is placed on active citizenship thanks to a new partnership with the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. As a result, she has been constantly reminded of the importance of helping others and, as an authority figure, felt pressure to lead the way.
    "I just got so busy with school and friends, and I let my community service slide," Coplan said. "That really upset me this year when I was placed in Haskell. I realized I hadn't done very much, and community involvement was why I picked Tufts in the first place."
Finding need close to home
    Last semester, Coplan began to brainstorm possible community service programs that she could present to the Tisch Civic Engagement Fund. With her rewarding involvement with the Jumpstart program in mind, Coplan was certain that she wanted to work with kids. Her love for the piano, as well as her extensive knowledge of musical theater, made her a good candidate for teaching the performing arts. Combining her performing expertise and her interest in children led to the creation of Broadway2Broadway. Because she had taken the class The American Musical in the Drama department last semester, she had many volunteers to contribute manpower and knowledge to her project.
    Coplan decided to focus on middle-school students as opposed to elementary school students, thinking that children had to be of a certain age before they could fully appreciate theater. She then discovered that West Somerville Middle School had no performing arts curriculum and is only five minutes away from campus. The school's principal, Pauline Lampropoulos, was receptive to Coplan's idea as long as the after-school program complemented what children were learning in school.

An integrated curriculum
    Since the students were learning about civics, geography and ancient history, Coplan decided the best way to begin the program would be with a musical set in a different country, like Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."
    "I figured we could teach them about ancient history, civilization and mythology through this musical," Coplan said. For British history and culture, Coplan thought that "My Fair Lady" (1956) would work. To keep "My Fair Lady" fun, she plans to teach kids how to speak with a British accent as part of an acting exercise.
    "A lot of acting is imitation," Coplan said. "We want to teach [kids] how to listen to and understand speech patterns. We also plan on doing lots of improv games so they understand that a lot of acting is not planned. It's really about understanding your character enough to know what he or she would do or say without a script in front of you."

Theater for culture
    Junior Samantha Tempchin, a Broadway2Broadway volunteer, spent a semester abroad in Austria and will use "The Sound of Music" (1959) to teach the students about Austrian history and culture as well as music theory through the famous song "Do-Re-Mi." Tempchin has known Coplan since high school and was excited to share her passion for singing with others.
    "In my high school there was a ton of support for the performing arts," Tempchin said. "Performing gave me a lot more confidence, and it's also a release outside of typical academic activities. This program can give these students a different activity to focus on and succeed in."
    Tempchin's lesson plan teaches the students about the geography of Austria, focusing on Vienna and Salzburg, and covers the history of Austrian composers such as Mozart. A clip from "The Sound of Music" will give students a view of the Alps while the group breaks for a traditional Austrian snack of apple strudel.
    In the second part of the lesson plan, Tempchin will sing and Coplan will play the piano to teach the students about the major scale. Following that, Tempchin plans to demonstrate two different musical stylings from "The Sound of Music": the operatic voice of Mother Superior versus the youthful sound of Liesl in "Sixteen Going on Seventeen."

Volunteers welcome
    Coplan is still looking for more volunteers of any experience or availability, even though she is very happy with the support for her project so far. Tufts students go once a week on Wednesdays to the middle school from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Unfortunately, for many students, this time conflicts with academic work or other extracurricular activities.
    "So far, there have been people who have verbally committed, but who don't want to actually commit without officially knowing their schedule," said Coplan. "However, it's only a one-time commitment. You're doing a lot in two hours."
    Coplan stressed that volunteers have the opportunity to be face-to-face with the students and actually make a difference in their day without having to commit to a time-intensive program. She encouraged people of all interests and levels of experience to consider participating because performance teachers are only part of the manpower needed to keep Broadway2Broadway going. While volunteers are needed to teach lessons through theater, song and dance, Tufts students are also needed to research aspects of social studies and select movies and sound clips.
    "If you're the kind of person who has never been front and center, you could talk about what it's like to be in the chorus," Coplan said. "It's important for these kids to know how to make [themselves] stand out among hundreds of other people just like [them]. It's a very useful life skill to learn."
    Coplan emphasized that volunteers didn't need to be experts on acting or singing.
    "In order to teach, you have to know something either about a show or musical theater in general, but you can research a possible interest and then teach it to the students," Coplan said. "We just want people that have something to say about the arts."

Establishing a legacy
    Coplan has many plans for the future, including bringing the children to work with Tufts actors in an improv workshop and to see Torn Ticket's production of "Into the Woods" this spring on campus. Eventually, she also wants the kids to put on their own play, but realistically, she expects this process to take a few years.
    "‘Into the Woods' will probably be the first actual show [they see] for some of these kids," Coplan said. "My hope is to get a Q&A session with the cast of the show. A lot of the people in the show might have been their teachers at some point. It also connects Tufts to the community, rather than taking the kids to downtown Boston to see a show."
    Coplan hopes that  Broadway2Broad-way will continue even after she graduates this coming spring. While Coplan doesn't plan to pursue theater as a career, she does consider it a huge part of her life.
    "I want to be an attorney, and I would love to use my legal expertise to somehow incorporate performing arts into schools," Coplan said. "I'd love to make that a reality, but I don't know how yet. I just know it won't leave my life after I graduate."