Make ’em Laugh:
Julia Perlowski Teaches Theater with a Smile
By Julie Levin
If you are looking for just one reason as to why Julia Perlowski is the 2011 Arts Teacher of the Year in Broward County, she isn't too shy to suggest just one of the things her students love about her. Simply put, she makes 'em laugh.
"I'm hilarious, I do everything with humor," said Perlowski, the Pompano Beach High School director of theater programs and instructor of English and reading, who has been running the drama programs for the past six years.
But through the laughter, Perlowski is also dedicated to making sure her students understand that drama is so much more than just entertainment and story-telling. She sees it as one of the most powerful tools in education, one that uses the power of human interaction to help boost critical thinking skills and create solid citizens of the world.
"I use the tools of theater and the games of theater to grow human beings and civic-minded individuals," she said.
Perlowski will be honored as the county's 26th Annual Arts Teacher of the Year at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on November 9. The program was created by the Broward County Cultural Division in 1985 to recognize the importance of arts education in Broward County schools.
While the spotlight will be on her that evening, Perlowski is more comfortable bringing a love of theater to the estimated 150 students who pass through her class each year. Her students put on two major productions, along with a variety show, every year. Every other year, they tackle Shakespeare, thanks to an innovative Shakespeare program she created at the school several years ago. This year, it was a production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Perlowski is passionate about using theater as a way to boost civic engagement. She attended a U.S. Department of Education Program called “Civic Voices,” which inspires teachers and students from around the world to create a bank of oral histories from democracy activists. Students learn how to conduct oral histories and preserve the legacy of their country’s struggles for democracy. Perlowski's students have taken on the cause of art advocacy in the community and will be interviewing local activists who have had to fight for their passion.
"We are going to interview a series of people who put their necks on the line to advance the betterment of artists’ lives and professions," Perlowski said. The stories will be uploaded to a digital memory bank that will ultimately be housed in the Library of Congress.
Perlowski's students have also worked with survivors of the Kindertransport, a program that shipped children out of Europe in 1938 to be spared from Hitler's Germany. Two years ago, Perlowski was asked if she would like to be the project director of a Witness Theatre program. The program, launched in Israel, matches high school students with Holocaust survivors to share the stories that form the foundation of extraordinary theater pieces. Perlowski's students and the survivors met for a total of 11 two-hour session in 2010 to explore the history of the Kindertransport through theater activity, interviews, digital documentation and performance.
This past year, the students met again with the survivors who helped them with a performance of KinderTransport, a play by Diane Samuels. In a unique sharing experience, the survivors were able to advise the students on everything from accents to the emotion of that turbulent time, and what it was like to be a child separated from their families.
Perlowski received her MA in women’s studies from the University of York in the United Kingdom and her BA in English languages and literature from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. A dedicated thespian throughout high school, it wasn't until she went to study theater education as a grad student at NYU that she ran into two teachers who provided the path for how she wanted to teach drama. They showed her how the activities and structures of drama could help students grow and constantly learn. "Ever since then, I knew I wanted to use the tools to really grow kids up and teach them other things too," she said.
The process starts only minutes after students walk into her class. Even before she's told them anything about herself, or the class, Perlowski gets the students on stage. They go through a series of what she calls "games" − theater exercises designed as simple fun so the students don't even realize they are taking the first steps into acting. It is there they begin to bond as a group and break down the barriers towards taking risks, which is a vital component in her class.
"By giving them opportunities to know each other, and be silly together, and fail together sometimes, we develop this culture where it is really OK to be a jerk in my class, and take a risk," she said.
Perlowski also uses theater skills to help her reading students improve their skills. She says that, in her classroom, students learn to expand their horizons and have fun in an honest environment.
“I provide them opportunities to express themselves in ways that they might not have wanted to try, or even know about. I am honest, and I invite them in as partners to whatever I am doing," she said.
Perlowski was also a finalist for the 2012 Broward County Teacher of the Year award and was honored with the Reba R. Robinson Award for outstanding intergenerational theater work in high school. She has an enormous list of honors, publications and professional achievements to her name, including helping other teachers explore Shakespeare through the Folger Institute in Washington, D.C.
She makes the effort to take part in at least one professional development project each year, in almost any subject, so she can learn new ideas to bring to her kids. That philosophy took her to India in July, through the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Award, so she could collaborate with teachers in that country. She is also planning a similar trip to Mongolia through Civic Voices later this year.
"Those different perspectives can really help what I do in my other classrooms," she said.
The Arts Teacher of the Year program will also showcase the artistic excellence of Broward County students. Perlowski will be honored at the 2011 Arts Teacher of the Year Performance and Showcase on November 9, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. It will begin at 6 p.m.
For information, call 954-357-7869 or Click Here.
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The Broward County Arts Teacher of the Year program is made possible by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, Broward Cultural Council, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, The School Board of Broward County, FL, The Cultural Foundation of Broward through the generous support of AutoNation, BankAtlantic, Great American Farms, Kopelowitz Ostrow, LSN Partners, LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, McGladrey, Nova Southeastern University, Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc, RSM McGladrey, Sun-Sentinel, WLD Enterprises.