By Sophie Rich, Performing Arts Specialist & Atrium Alumna

As a freelance drama educator, director, actress, and all-around-theater-person, I find myself constantly moving from project to project and show to show, meeting new groups of students and bidding farewell to them in turn. I’ve learned how to say goodbye to productions, how to conclude workshops, and how to take a bow on one stage and walk on to the next.

However, there’s something about the journey I took with the Atrium middle school students during their performing arts cluster this past fall that is much harder to pack up and put behind me. As I think about how I want to grow as an educator in 2015, those two short weeks stick out to me as uniquely exciting, enriching, and thought provoking amongst all the teaching I’ve done.