Beginnings
Flying Treehouse was started in 2011 by Lisa Barker, who is currently getting her Ph.D. in Teacher Education at the Stanford School of Education. Lisa had participated in similar programs in Chicago: Griffin's Tale when she was in school at Northwestern, and Barrel of Monkeys after she graduated. Inspired by these programs and having done a lot of work in the education field, Lisa decided to bring a children's repertory theater company to Stanford.
It started as a class: Drama 190. In the Spring of 2011, 22 students enrolled in the Flying Treehouse class taught by Lisa Barker and Dan Klein. Our first school partners were Ms. Nita's and Miss Wong's second grade classrooms down the street at Escondido Elementary.
It started as a class: Drama 190. In the Spring of 2011, 22 students enrolled in the Flying Treehouse class taught by Lisa Barker and Dan Klein. Our first school partners were Ms. Nita's and Miss Wong's second grade classrooms down the street at Escondido Elementary.
Pilot Program
Out of the 22 members of Flying Treehouse, 8 became teachers (4 in each classroom). The teachers worked with Lisa and Dan on a school observation then four workshops, once a week for a month. The workshops were on Story Structure, Dialogue, Playwriting, and Arguments. The students played some improv games and wrote stories in groups ranging from the whole class to individuals writing in their notebooks.
At the end of the workshops, the Flying Treehouse members collected all the students' journals, took them back to Stanford, read through them all, and started playing around with acting them out. We ended up putting them into a show called The Dodgeball Button filled with [insert # here] songs and sketches.
After weeks of rehearsals, we went back to Escondido Elementary and performed for the students who had written the stories. The next week we had two on-campus shows: one for kids and their families, and one for the Stanford community as a whole.
At the end of the workshops, the Flying Treehouse members collected all the students' journals, took them back to Stanford, read through them all, and started playing around with acting them out. We ended up putting them into a show called The Dodgeball Button filled with [insert # here] songs and sketches.
After weeks of rehearsals, we went back to Escondido Elementary and performed for the students who had written the stories. The next week we had two on-campus shows: one for kids and their families, and one for the Stanford community as a whole.
Results
We had a lot of fun. And so did the students! Check back later to see what some have said about the experience.
Present
It's success in 2011 led to another class in the Winter of the 2011-2012 school year, this time Drama 103: Creating Theater for Children. This not only fostered expansion into different schools, but the roles of the students expanded as well. All 26 students worked as teachers in one of the four classrooms at two different schools. We continued working with Ms. Nita and Ms Wong at Escondido Elementary, and began working with Ms. Valant and Ms. Steinke's third graders at East Palo Alto Charter School.
Looking To the Future
The cast of Flying Treehouse is currently in the process of discussing a future for the program as a company on campus. Rather than a class that exists one quarter out of the year, students would model the student group after what goes on in the class, and commit to joining the cast as a full-time, year-round member. The future plans for Flying Treehouse are still in the works, but we'll be around - trust me.
