Hello everyone! As a new member of the Fine Arts Council, I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself and share a bit about my program. My name is Aimee Alger, and I am a junior high Fine Arts teacher. I teach both visual arts and drama as part of a required course for all students in grades 7-9. In addition to teaching 18 homeroom classes, I also run our extracurricular drama program and the school's Dungeons & Dragons (DND) club, so I keep quite busy!
Our extracurricular drama program is one of my greatest accomplishments in my time at my school. When I first started at the school in 2022, we struggled to put on a winter play due to a lack of student commitment and interest. The school had gone several years without a theatre program, and it was difficult to garner the enthusiasm we needed. However, I didn’t give up, and in January 2023, I successfully managed to put on a show with a cast of 16 students and 5 backstage crew members. That production felt like a turning point—suddenly, students were excited and asking how they could get involved. By the following fall, we performed a play with 24 cast members and 9 backstage crew, and we even managed to put on two shows that year, thanks to the dedication of our students.
This school year has been an especially exciting one for our extracurricular drama program. The first play we staged in December was ambitious both in terms of content and technical elements, and it involved the most students ever—31 cast members and 18 backstage crew. I learned to step back and trust my students, and they exceeded all expectations. I am incredibly proud of them. Our spring production is a month in, and we’ve grown even further, with 46 actors and 17 backstage crew members. Many backstage students have transitioned into acting, while new students have joined our crew, expanding our reach even more. I believe this growth is a direct result of the supportive, welcoming environment my co-director and I have cultivated. Drama has become a safe space for many students at our school—it's fun, inclusive, and a place where students can take pride in their work. This shift in the school’s culture toward a greater acceptance of theatre has always been my goal. As the program continues to expand, I may need to reevaluate how I run it, but for now, I feel that the systems we’ve developed are working well for both the students and me, allowing us to produce high-quality productions.
In addition to the extracurricular drama program, I start every year with a drama unit as part of my Fine Arts curriculum. In grade 7, we dive into improvisational theatre, which helps students get to know one another and work together in new and unfamiliar ways. In grade 8, we build on the foundation of improv, focusing more on idea development and long-form improvisation. By grade 9, students are introduced to script work and performance. While teaching drama as a mandatory course can be a unique challenge, I’ve seen firsthand how beneficial it is for students. Theatre and improv teach invaluable life skills such as creativity, adaptability, collaboration, and confidence. I’ve watched shy students transform—one of my first lessons involved students making eye contact with one another, and the nervousness was palpable. By the end of the unit, however, they were engaging confidently with each other and me. It’s truly remarkable to witness this growth. From my perspective, the benefits of drama cannot be overstated. Students become more social, improve their public speaking skills, and express themselves more clearly after participating in drama.
After our drama unit in Fine Arts, we switched gears into visual arts. I’ve spent the past two years developing a visual arts curriculum for grades 7 and 8 that students enjoy and feel proud of. I focus on projects that have a low skill requirement but high payoff, which I’ve found keeps students engaged and motivated. Since I only see my students for one or two 40-minute blocks in a five-day cycle, I avoid projects that are overly skill-intensive. Instead, I focus on making sure that students can complete their work with a sense of accomplishment. This approach has resulted in excellent student engagement, project completion, and overall satisfaction with their finished work.
This year, my grade 9 students, who were the first group I taught when I started at the school, are getting to experience my new visual arts curriculum. They’ve been fantastic as my test group, offering valuable feedback as I fine-tune my lessons. Based on the successes and challenges of the previous years, I’ve developed five new projects for them, and the first one is off to a fantastic start! While I’m always taking risks when trying out new ideas, that’s part of the excitement and joy of teaching—I get to see what works and what doesn’t, and adapt for the next year.
I’m excited to continue to grow the arts in my school, and I’m very proud of the Fine Arts program I have been able to build. The growth I’ve seen in both our drama and visual arts offerings is a testament to the desire and passion the students have for the arts, and I’m grateful I can help offer that outlet. I look forward to continuing to build on this momentum and create even more opportunities for our students to thrive creatively and personally
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