I hope this finds you all safe, healthy.
I’m sure that you are getting a lot of information updates on COVID-19 coming your way. And the last thing I want to do now is give you another long message to read. However…
As you have probably heard, all face-to-face instruction and services at ACC are suspended for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester. Unfortunately, with the campus closed, that means we won’t be able to present our last two shows of the season,
12 Angry Jurors
and the Spring Departmental Showcase.
That said, we are continuing to teach. We have transitioned all of our courses to distance learning classes. We’ll continue to offer instruction for our Introduction to Theater, Acting, and Technical Theater classes online. Given the nature of our courses, the transition has been an exercise in creativity. But our faculty has done a tremendous job in finding a way to teach from a distance. Special thanks to Heather Barfield and Jamie Rogers for developing this
ACC Drama Online Resources for Students
page. (You’ll need to be logged in to your ACC Gmail to access this.) When you have a moment, check it out.
The college administration is also taking steps to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis. Up-to-date information about ACC’s response to COVID-19 is at the
ACC Coronavirus page
. There you can find links for remote resources, student support services, FAQs, and adjustments to
relevant dates and deadlines
. If you haven’t yet, you might want to take a look at a message from Dr. Rhodes,
COVID 19: ACC's Promise
.
On the bright side, Highland Campus Building 2000 construction, home of our new theater facility, is moving forward. With fingers crossed, we will move all of our stuff to the new space over the summer, and start a new era in the Fall of 2020. There we will give our new awards—the Associate of Applied Science in Technical Theater and the Field of Study Degree in Acting and Performance, a good and proper launch.
I want to thank our faculty and staff for their work—tireless work— in stepping up during this period of uncertainty. They’ve been nothing short of heroic navigating this transition to distance learning in creative and engaging ways. They’ve gone above and beyond in reaching out to their students, and in supporting one another. Really can’t thank them enough.
These are interesting times to say the least. Our schedules have been thrown off. Plans have been derailed. Many of us are stuck at home, worried about health and safety, money, housing, food, all that. It’s a lot.
One might wonder what in the world our discipline has to offer in times like this. But in some ways, working through the rough bits is the bread and butter of what we do in theater. We ground ourselves in empathy, embrace community, and unearth creative solutions to impossible problems. When things get hectic, we lean into each other, trust one another, hit the next cue, and find a way forward.
So, forward
mm
