Better Together's programs are free for publicly funded schools. If your school is not publicly funded but you'd like to partner with us, please reach out for more information about pricing.

Yes! Improv & theater are community-builders for any space. We welcome & encourage ANY teacher to host a Better Together workshop in their classroom, regardless of the subject you teach.

All we request of teachers is the following:

• A 15-minute introductory visit to your classroom from one of our Community Champions to meet you & your students.

• Your active participation in our workshop activities alongside your students!

• While it is not required, if you would like to review lesson plans in advance to see what we'll be doing, you're more than welcome to -- if interested, please indicate this request when you reach out.

• We do NOT request that you prepare anything for our workshop -- no need to review lesson plans or prepare students. We want this to be a light lift for you.

A Better Together workshop is 5 sessions that are designed to be 75 minutes long, but can easily be adapted for your particular school schedule.

Our model is designed to take place over 1-3 weeks -- ideally, workshop sessions will take place every day for one week or every other day for two weeks to build momentum. As noted earlier, though, we are happy to adapt our timings to your schedule.

An important component of our workshop is a final performance. If a performance space is available in your school, we are happy to handle the logistics of communicating with your administration to reserve the space. If no such space is available, we are happy to run the performance in your classroom.

A typical workshop follows this basic structure:

• Warm-Up Games: An energizer, icebreaker, and focus-builder to set the tone.

• Escalating Vulnerability: Brief activities designed to nudge students out of their comfort zone & into trusting one another. They escalate in vulnerability over the week.

• Improv Principle: Community Champions introduce one core principle of improv (e.g., 'yes, and'.)

• Improv Practice: Community Champions facilitate a series of improv games designed to practice the day's principle in a way that escalates opportunities for vulnerability (e.g. students practice games in small groups on day 1, but in front of the class on day 3)

• Exit Survey: Daily survey to assess how students enjoyed the day's workshop and what they gained from it.

We provide:

• A production timeline tailored to your school's schedule.

• A manual on how to license shows, get props & set pieces, ticket website support.

• Biweekly coaching sessions with Better Together staff to support you - from the moment you begin recruiting students until closing curtain.

• Community Champions at 2 rehearsals per week to support in ways contextually appropriate for the school (e.g. in facilitating improv games, blocking scenes, teaching acting technique, etc.)

Improv & theater build strong community that can support all kinds of students. Community-building is best executed by people who tangibly know what that community feels like, because they can speak to and engage their peers in a way that non-peers can't.

• Alumni of an existing theater program at a DC public or public charter school OR previous participants in Better Together workshops

• Experts in community-building

• ‘Superconnectors’ who can shift the culture of any room they enter

Our Community Champions get paid to do the following:

• Facilitate Better Together workshops in schools

• Run teacher Professional Development sessions

• Support schools in building after school theater program

If you have experience in a theater program at a DC school or have participated in a Better Together workshop, we'd love to consider you for Community Champion role. Please share your interest on the Get Involved page.