Monday, September 3, 2012

Children's Committee Meeting

The Missoula Children's Theater (MCT) week-long summer camp program was
sponsored by The Court House Players (CHP) beginning in 2001. The need for
more youth involvement in CHP was apparent and a Children's Program
Committee was formed with a primary goal to inspire a respect for live
theater and to attract the local youth. This goal was to be reached by
mentoring new young members in both behind the scenes and in front of the
curtain in a live theater production in the hopes that they will continue to
participate in CHP's future endeavors.


The first camp was held in Mathews County at Thomas Hunter Middle School and
the response from all three adjacent counties was overwhelming. Not only did
the young actors get the experience of intense rehearsals in a theater
setting with live performances, but they participated in Court House Players
run workshops. These workshops were given by experienced members of CHP in
areas of theater such as improvisation, stage direction and movement. With a
limit of 64 young people per week-long camp, there was always a waiting list
and it was very obvious that the community enjoyed it year after year. The
committee located available parents from each of the three counties
(Gloucester, Mathews, & Middlesex) to organize and agree to be on-site
coordinators which permitted the MCT program to expand, and was even
sometimes conducted twice each summer in the same county.


Unable to locate enough volunteers to coordinate and oversee the week-long
camps, CHP had to eliminate the MCT program from the 2012 summer season. We
have had many phone calls, messages and word-of-mouth communication
expressing the disappointment of parents and community members for not
having the MCT program available this year. As one of the founding members
of the CHP MCT summer camps, I have agreed to volunteer again as the
Committee Chair to resurrect the summer camp for 2013. But it cannot be done
without adult volunteers to assist with the participant registration
process, as week-long on-site coordinators, workshop leaders, and back-stage
helpers. It takes ten volunteers to assist in some capacity for each
week-long summer camp.


Our goal for 2013 is to hold one week in each Mathews and Middlesex County;
that means we will need at least twenty volunteers. The on-site coordinators
need to be available for one week from Monday through Saturday. The weekday
times are usually from 9 am until 4 pm, or until the last participant is
picked up!


If you are interested in joining the committee to bring back MCT, or are
interested in volunteering during a 2013 week-long summer camp, please call
Lynn Jaeger, Children's Program Committee Chair at 804-725-3414 or email
ljaeger@kayjae.com.