Kent State University School of Theatre
and Dance instructor Tracee Patterson
received the Ambassador Tony P. Hall
Advocacy Award for a service-learning
project that she implemented with her
students in the classroom.

Kent State University School of Theatre and Dance instructor Tracee Patterson received the Ambassador Tony P. Hall Advocacy Award for a service-learning project that she implemented with her students in the classroom.

The award, named in honor of congressman, activist and Ambassador Tony P. Hall, recognizes a program that has demonstrated impact in addressing hunger in new and effective ways in Ohio.

Patterson’s fall 2013 Art of the Theatre students wrote, produced and performed a play about raising awareness on hunger and homelessness in the Kent community titled I Am More Than I Appear to Be. The production ran last November, and the class was given a standing ovation for the performance.

Patterson says each student was required to spend at least 10 hours of volunteer work related to hunger and homelessness, which aided them in writing the play based on their experiences.

In addition to receiving the award, Patterson received $1,000 to support her travel and participation in the Advocacy Day experience with Ambassador Hall in Washington. D.C. However, instead of using the money for herself, she donated it to a student to participate in the event. The Advocacy Day event is coordinated by Tina Kandakai, Ph.D., director of Kent State’s Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement, who co-sponsored Patterson’s nomination for the award.

“This award is an affirmation of not only the commitment and the fearlessness of my students, but also of the people with whom they engaged through service,” Patterson says. “Many of these people were experiencing hunger and homelessness in our community and yet they were willing to share their experiences, strengths and hopes with my students. This took the students out of their comfort zone as they got to meet, interact with and learn from people whose lives were totally different from theirs.”

Patterson indicates that she decided to add service-learning to the class because she believes in the goals of a liberal-arts education, which includes educating “the whole person.” She says she didn’t just want to teach her students about a subject, but to help them understand how it intersects with life and with the systems, values and people in the society. She says service-learning is one method of achieving that type of engaged learning.

Patterson has implemented service-learning in other courses and wanted to try it in the Art of Theatre class as well. She was skeptical about how it would work at first because most of the students had no previous experience on the stage. However, with the encouragement and support of Kandakai, staff from Kent State’s Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement, and the School of Theatre and Dance, she was able to go forward with the course. Patterson was impressed with not only the hard work of her students and their willingness to participate in service, but also with the ways in which they were able to draw on their service experiences, integrating and applying them to their learning in the class.

“She took our Art of the Theatre class — a beginning level class — and asked if she could create a section of that class that had a service-learning component, which no one had done before,” says Eric van Baars, director of the School of Theatre and Dance. “She worked diligently to make those students aware of the importance and benefits of service, especially from the performing standpoint.”

Van Baars says the students were impacted by the class and were able to learn how to use acting to help in the community. Because of that, he thought Patterson would be the perfect person for the award.

“If anything, the recognition is not for her passion, which is always there, but for her passion that she instilled in others,” Van Baars says. “We’re very proud of her as an alumna of the program. She has inspired me, as well as other instructors and the students in the program, to find creative ways that they can attach a service-learning component to their classes.”

Currently, Patterson is teaching theatre classes online and working at the Great Lakes Theater in Cleveland.

For more information about Patterson’s class, visit http://faculty.jmc.kent.edu/glhanson/BBR/ShowVideo.asp?IDScript=2603.