Steppenwolf Announces Winners of Inspire the Future Awards

Steppenwolf for Young Adults and Fidelity Investments are proud to announce the recipients of the 2nd annual Fidelity Investments Inspire the Future Awards: Sandra Shimon, an English and Drama teacher at Prosser Career Academy in Chicago, and Ken Hunter, the principal at Prosser.  The school will receive two $2,500 grants, one in honor of each candidate, to support arts programming for its students.

 
Fidelity Investments and Steppenwolf created the Fidelity Investments Inspire the Future Award to honor Chicago Public School teachers and administrators who are dedicated to the advancement of youth through theater and the arts in Chicago. In addition to their active involvement in Steppenwolf for Young Adults programs, this year's educators have demonstrated a remarkable commitment to the employment of innovative learning techniques that motivate and encourage their students to think and participate in creative ways.

 
Sandra Shimon (English and Drama Teacher, Prosser Career Academy) is in her third year teaching high school at Prosser.  A graduate of Dominican University with a degree in English Literature, Sandra continued her education at National Louis University, earning a Masters in Teaching, specializing in secondary English.  Her belief that good teachers are life-long learners has resulted in professional development relationships with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Terra Foundation of American Art, among others.  Through intensive training programs, she has explored the use of theater arts to better teach core discipline concepts.  To this end, in 2006-2007 she participated in Steppenwolf Theatre's Immersion and Immersion 2 courses, several Master Teacher workshops and the First Look series.  This year, she was proud to be a part of the Immersion 2 Chicago Ethnography Project, as well as Steppenwolf for Young Adults' Subscriber School Program.  She has been recognized by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater with the 2008 Team Shakespeare MVP Award.  Additional contributions to the Prosser community include her establishment of Homework Hostel—an after-school program that keeps the library open so students can study, co-sponsoring Mayor Daley's Book Club, sponsoring the GSA and Drama Club and arranging for The Robben Island Singers (a group from South Africa) to visit Prosser.  Sandra was named Prosser's English department chair in Spring 2007.

 
Ken Hunter (Principal, Prosser Career Academy) is in the process of creating a Theatre Department at Prosser and organized a summer teacher training workshop in conjunction with Steppenwolf' production of The Crucible. He is also part of Steppenwolf's Education Committee and a Season and First Look subscriber.  Mr. Hunter was born on the northwest side of Chicago in 1953.  He attended St. Priscilla grammar school, St. Patrick's High School and Loyola University for his undergraduate work in Theology, where he graduated cume laude.  He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at The University of Chicago.  Mr. Hunter worked in Catholic schools for 21 years as a teacher and administrator.  For the last 12 years, he has served as an administrator in Chicago Public Schools, the past five years as Principal of Prosser Career Academy.  He is and always will be a teacher who believes the arts are the best way to inspire those who will make the world in the future.

 
Last year's recipients of the inaugural Fidelity Investments Inspire the Future Awards were teachers Carolyn Begley of Harlan Community Academy and Anthony V. Costa of Roberto Clemente Community Academy.

 
Steppenwolf for Young Adults is Steppenwolf's educational program for students, teachers and families, and is focused on making the theater accessible to Chicago youth.  Steppenwolf for Young Adults consists of complementary programming components that are designed to enhance education, build self-esteem and social tolerance, and encourage lifelong appreciation of the arts.  At the core of Steppenwolf for Young Adults are the professional, full-scale productions produced specifically for young adult audiences each season.  Steppenwolf for Young Adults Programs include: Productions for Students and Families - Professional productions of established plays, original adaptations of novels and new works are presented for young adults through weekday student matinees and weekend family performances. The Subscriber School Program provides in-school residencies for each production, including scripts, study guides and tours of the theater. The Young Adult Council - The Young Adult Council is a new initiative at Steppenwolf to create a small group of high school students from across Chicago devoted to exploring the collaborative possibilities between the theatre and young adults in order to create programs that speak to their interests, ideas and creative goals. Educator Workshops - The Teacher Theater Immersion Course is designed to help teachers integrate theater arts into core curriculum. Our Advanced Immersion 2 Course uses arts integration methods to approach a range of non-fiction works related to themes of our productions. The Master Teacher Workshops help teachers improve student comprehension of literature through drama. All offer the opportunity to earn CPDU credits.

 
Steppenwolf for Young Adults is a citywide partner of the Chicago Public Schools School Partner Program.

 
The Fidelity Investments Inspire the Future program is a grassroots outreach initiative dedicated to raising awareness and building support for community youth programs in the arts and athletics.  The Inspire the Future Award is given to recognize and honor local leaders who go over-and-above to support youth programs in schools and throughout our communities, and inspire both participants and other volunteers and administrators with their leadership and enthusiasm.  Fidelity has a long legacy of supporting the arts and is proud to work with Steppenwolf Theatre Company to promote theater education and appreciation.

                           
Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon.  The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work.  Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of forty-one artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.

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