Noting that CNIS lacked a formal theater program, our founder, now a recent OSU graduate, Sarah Fitzpatrick saw the opportunity to provide these students with otherwise inaccessible opportunities to experience theatre and develop essential skills for their time in school and beyond. Weekly after-school meetings consisting of theatre lessons and activities, improv games, a trip to see CAPA’s A Chri
stmas Carol, and attempts to write a play with 5-10 students marked the beginning of TAG. Working alone with minimal help from a teacher at the school, the founder struggled to build the program as she envisioned. This all changed in January 2015 when Sarah recruited a team of six OSU students. In February 2015, TAG received a year-long $4,000 mini-grant from the OSU College of Education and Human Ecology P12 Initiative. This grant allowed TAG to focus on developing as a program and reinforcing its partnership with CNIS free of any worry regarding funding. This alleviation and freedom has since allowed TAG to grow to 25-30 CNIS students. TAG’s recognition as a CNIS extracurricular activity and the partnership with the school in general continues to grow as a direct result. TAG students wrote and performed two original plays: a comedy in Spring 2015 and a drama in Spring 2016. In addition, TAG has taken its participants to multiple shows around Columbus, including the Broadway national tour of Motown the Musical, OSU Off The Lake Productions’ Legally Blonde the Musical and Hairspray, 8th Floor Improv’s Bellwether Festival, and CAPA’s A Christmas Carol. TAG is now an official OSU student organization and will be open to recruitment in Fall 2016. By increasing recognition of TAG around the university and city, we will continue offering our students better opportunities to engage in the Columbus performing arts community. In addition to producing plays, our future plans include further lesson plan development, guest speakers and workshops, more trips to local theatre productions, and increased collaboration with the Ohio State theatre department. Finally, with more funding, the long-term future of TAG will include the creation of additional TAG branches in other Columbus middle and high schools and increasing OSU membership, providing more OSU and high school students with the benefits of theatre and strengthening the relationship between the university and the community.
