Let's PLAY
Project Design Lab
June 22-26
Creative Campus at Goddard / Plainfield, Vermont
Peoples Academy students created theater vignettes recreating interviews with community members about what makes their community sustainable.
Playmaking as a Catalyst for Student-Centered Learning
This course is for educators who want to get students out of their seats, up and learning, using theater techniques to create an original play based on any content area or school theme. ​
This is a 3-day course.
No prior theater experience is needed.
You will leave with a plethora of theater-based activities, the skills you need to create a theater-integrated project, and a step-by-step guide to creating plays based on any content in your curriculum or school theme—for any classroom, any grade.
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Who Should Attend?
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K-12 educators in all content areas.
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Individuals or teams.
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What To Expect
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Create a collection of movement- and theatre-based activities that deepen student engagement with your curriculum or school theme.
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Learn and engage in theater games that can be used to strengthen your classroom and school community.
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Develop improvisation skills that can be used to create plays and improve students’ communication skills.
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Learn with and from colleagues and master teaching artists in an engaging environment that models a classroom grounded in collaboration and respect.
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Leave with the framework of a flexible project plan for playmaking in your classroom–any classroom, any age.
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Feel supported and rejuvenated.
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Refuel and have fun!
Wild Things
From Page to Stage: an original play created by students to bring to life their interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
“Surviving Adolescence”
Randolph Union High School health classes created puppet characters, wrote scripts, and made short films exploring research-based strategies for teens to employ to help them navigate the emotional stages of adolescence.
Workshop Themes​
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Playmaking – What is playmaking and how do you create plays that ignite deeper student engagement and learning?
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Theater Games – Using games to develop basic theater and presentation skills.
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Movement – How can movement be integrated into any content area to strengthen student engagement?
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Improvisation – The art of acting in the moment.
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Putting it Together – Your step-by-step guide to create a theater project ready to perform.​
No Bull About Bullying
Burlington High School students created a play to explore the impact of bullying in their school and ways to have a more safe and supportive school culture.
Where Does "Me" End and "We" Begin?
K-12 students strengthened their sense of community with an all-school original puppet show that built connections between the elementary, middle and high school and their community.
Faculty
Kelly Becker, Phd.
Course Leader​ ​​
Kelly Mancini Becker is an arts integration specialist who has created plays with hundreds of students, coached teachers to do the same, and taught preservice teachers how to use theater in the classroom to improve learning outcomes. She taught Integrating the Arts at UVM for over 10 years, is a teaching artist, and provides professional development for schools across Vermont. ​​
Barbara Paulson
Workshop Leader​​​
Barbara is a founding member of Vermont’s No Strings Marionette Company. She has created, produced and directed countless professional and student productions, with the intent of connecting people to themselves and one another through story. Barbara encourages students of all ages to fearlessly examine the cycle of creation and revision as they make meaningful connections to original and inspired work. Bachelor of Science degrees in Art and Zoology ingrained foundational tools that launch Barbara’s brain into the non stop creative processes of puppetry. ​​
The Details
Let's PLAY!
3-Day Course / June 24-26, 2026 / 9 am to 4 pm
Plus two 1.25 hour virtual sessions in the fall, dates to be determined.
Tuition
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$2,100 - Three graduate credits
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$1,850 - Certificate of Participation for 40 hours relicensing credits​
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$100 late registration fee after May 1.
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Tuition includes lodging/breakfast (optional), lunch, and snacks. Lodging is available on the Creative Campus in air conditioned private dorm rooms. There is no reduction in tuition if you do not stay overnight.
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Attend Solo or as a Team
Teams are encouraged to design a project together. Teams can be composed of any combination of educators (classroom teachers, councilors, paras, special educators, staff, administrators) and can be from the same grades and content areas, or mixed.
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Teaching Artist Residency - OPTIONAL
Teaching artist residencies are optional. If you would like information on selecting and scheduling a teaching artist to co-lead with you the implementation of your project, please complete the PDL Questions Form and we'll be in touch.​
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Project Snapshots
See examples of previous projects created at the Project Design Lab here.
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Questions?
Complete the PDL Questions Form and we'll be back in touch soon.
We invite you to let us know about specific accommodations you may need to participate in the Project Design Lab when completing your Registration Form, and we will make every effort to honor your request.