Educational Theatre Association Honors Local Educator as Volunteer of the Year The Educational Theatre Association's (EdTA) Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes individuals who support the Association through exceptional volunteer efforts. The 2018 recipients are the 16 members of the Advocacy Leadership Network (ALN): Anthony Cimino-Johnson, Rock Ridge High School, Ashburn, Virginia Michael Daehn, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana Helen Duranleau-Brennan, Davenport, Iowa Shannon Horn, Pinewood Preparatory School, Goose Creek, South Carolina Alison Johnson, Santa Fe High School, Whittier, California Jennifer Morgan-Beuchat, Leavenworth, Kansas Mallory Nonnemaker, Dawson County High School, Cleveland, Georgia Zachary Schneider, Natrona County High School, Casper, Wyoming Teri Turner, Smith-Cotton High School, Sedalia, Missouri Zachery W. Bates, Gloucester County Institute of Technology, Westville, New Jersey Sharon Fenwald Chadwick, Liberty High School, Las Vegas, Nevada Tami LoSasso, Lakewood High School, Arvada, Colorado Lindsay M. Shields, Flushing High School, Queens, New York Christopher Veneris, South Guilford High School, Greensboro, North Carolina Scott Wilson, East High School, Columbus Ohio Erick J. Weeks, Pearl High School, Pearl, Mississippi The Advocacy Leadership Network is a three-year pilot initiative, launched in 2017 to train and empower members of the Educational Theatre Association in grassroots advocacy efforts on behalf of theatre and other arts education. In presenting the awards, EdTA executive director Julie Theobald said, "It's a fundamental part of our mission to influence public opinion as to the value of theatre education and there is no better way to do that than to have our teachers on the front lines in state houses and school board meetings throughout the country." To that end the ALN has ALN members prepared an advocacy guide for the association's membership to use in developing local and state activities. The Volunteer of the Year Award was presented during the EdTA Leadership Summit in Kansas City, Missouri, where the organization's leaders -- members of the EdTA board of directors, chapter directors and board members, and student leaders -- gathered for a three-day session of planning, briefings, and workshops focused on organizational best practices.
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