Page 2 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, November 22, 2024 Advertise in The Advocate 617-387-2200 Harvard’s American Repertory Theater selects Malden High School for prestigious theater program MHS one of just six schools in Massachusetts chosen for Lavine Learning Lab initiative this year By Steve Freker T Need a hall for your special event? The Schiavo Club, located at 71 Tileston Street, Everett is available for your Birthdays, Anniversaries, Sweet 16 parties and more? For more info, call (857) 249-7882 8 Norwood St. Everett (617) 387-9810 Open Tues. - Sat. at 4:00 PM Closed Sun. & Mon. Announcing our Classic Specials Dine In Only: * FREE Salad with purchase of Entree, Tuesdays & Wednesdays * Cheese Pizza - Only $10 Catch ALL The Live Sports Action On Our Large Screen TV’s Scan & Follow Us on Facebook! he city of Malden’s love and support of the arts, including theater, is personifi ed in its rich and vibrant acting platform at Malden High School, the Play Production class. Fittingly, tonight, a week after Malden High’s theater program received perhaps its most prestigious honor, its students will perform in the fi rst of two consecutive shows of the hit Broadway musical “Pippin” at the school’s Jenkins Auditorium. This past Friday, two of the biggest supporters of the Malden High School theater program – Malden Mayor Gary Christenson and MHS 8th-year Principal Chris Mastrangelo – joined fi rst-year Superintendent of Schools Dr. Timothy Sippel, high school staff members and Malden High Class of 2024 senior Addison McWayne to take part in an important ceremony at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge. The Loeb Drama Center is the main stage of the American Repertory Theater (EXPERIENCE the A.R.T.) at Harvard University, located on Brattle Street in Cambridge. Harvard’s A.R.T. is considered “a leading force in American theater,” having won a Tony Award as well as a Pulitzer Prize. Last Friday, Nov. 14, Malden High School was honored as just one of six high schools in all of Massachusetts selected to participate in the Lavine Learning Lab at the American Repertory Theater complex. Joining Mayor Christenson, Supt. Sippel and Principal Mastrangelo at the presentation, where the MHS Play Production program was featured, were its lead educators, Jen Clapp and Ariana Messana. MHS choral music educator Todd Cole also is involved in the Play Production classes. Both Mayor Christenson and www.810bargrille.com Mastrangelo have not missed many (if any!) of the twice-yearly Play Production performances in many years. “The students and staff who put in so much time and passion into these performances is simply amazing,” Mastrangelo said. “They seem to raise the bar with every MALDEN HIGH SCHOOL SELECTED FOR AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER (A.R.T.) PROGRAM: Attending a ceremony where it was announced that MHS will be part of a select, intensive theater program at Harvard University’s A.R.T. as part of a grant from the Lavine Family Foundation, were, pictured from left to right: Front row: MHS Play Production educators Jen Clapp and Ariana Messana; back row: MHS Principal Chris Mastrangelo, Mayor/School Committee Chairperson Gary Christenson, MHS senior Addison McWayne, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Timothy Sippel and Malden Public Schools Director of History/Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts Gerard Tannetta. (Courtesy/Malden Public Schools Photo) new production,” he added, with his words echoed by the Mayor. According to a story published this week in the Harvard Gazette, “The Lavine Learning Lab uses A.R.T. productions as the foundation for student workshops that bridge the arts, humanities, and social and emotional learning, fostering lasting relationships between the theater and its young audience.” As part of the program, for each production, students participate in an introductory in-school workshop centered around the production’s “Essential Questions” and a pre-show workshop at A.R.T. held alongside a second Learning Lab school, exploring one of the production’s themes or elements, followed by dinner and a performance. Then will come a postshow, in-school student-led workshop for students “to unpack their own perspectives and those of others.” In addition, two educators from each participating school – in this case, Clapp and Messana from MHS – join a Professional Learning Community in which A.R.T. facilitates ongoing collaborative learning and provides professional development. Malden High senior Addison McWayne has already begun reaping benefi ts from her participation in the Lavine Learning Lab, as she took part in a pilot program the previous school year. “I feel like a lot of my analytical skills have been reinforced and retaught in the Learning Lab, but I’ve also taken the vulnerability that I feel when I’m in the lab and applied it to other parts of my life,” McWayne said in the Gazette story. “This experience has provided me with opportunities to speak up for myself and to share my opinion, which has made me a stronger and more confi dent person.” The Lavine Learning Lab is supported by a $5 million gift from The Crimson Lion / Lavine Family Foundation, which was founded by Bain Capital Chair Jonathan Lavine, M.B.A. ’92, and Jeannie Lavine ’88, M.B.A. ’92, to support nonprofit organizations focused on leveling the playing fi eld for individuals and families.
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