Education
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About The Huntington Education Department
One of the most extensive and admired programs in the country, the Huntington’s Education Department serves more than 30,000 students, teachers, and community organizations each year with student matinees, state-wide Poetry Out Loud, and the August Wilson Monologue Competition.
Our Statement of Purpose
“The Huntington’s Education Department extends the theatre’s impact by providing experiential education in the performing arts that is grounded in authenticity, inclusiveness, and professionalism. With a commitment to reflecting the diversity of its community, the department creates lifelong learning opportunities and aims to remove both real and perceived social, financial, and physical barriers to participation.”
Collaborators
Our collaborators include Boston Public Schools, Codman Academy Charter Public School, YMCA, National Endowment for the Arts, the Mass Cultural Council, and many community organizations.
Awards
The Huntington Theatre Company has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities, Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, the Bay State Council of the Blind, and City of Boston’s City Council. In 2009, Codman Academy was awarded the Commonwealth Award for our collaboration.
The Huntington Academy
The Huntington Academy is open for students of all ages to learn, play, and engage with the theatrical arts. Discover and cultivate your acting skills, unlock your creative problem-solving skills, gain a deeper understanding of the theatre industry, and more in these courses.
Student Matinee Series
Bring your student groups to The Huntington! We offer a variety of programs to help schools and students get involved in theatre and use it to bolster their academic curricula. See a show for as little as $20 per ticket & get a free in-school workshop!
Learn more about student matinees
Meet the Education Department
Meg O'Brien
Director of Education
Meg O'Brien
Meg O’Brien (she/her/hers) is in her 15th season at The Huntington where she has been the Director of Education since 2017. Meg has worked professionally as an access coordinator, actor, dancer, singer, director, producer, finance director, arts administrator, and stage manager; however, her passion lives with theatre education. For 19 years Meg has made her living teaching students of all ages about the world of the theater.
Marisa Jones
Associate Director of Education & Practical Learning
Marisa Jones
Marisa Jones (she/her/hers) received a B.F.A in Theatre Education with a minor in writing from Emerson College where she was the recipient of the Phyllis A. McCullough Scholarship for Performing Arts. Marisa co-authored (Colby, Nelson) the paper, Signs of Change: New Directions in Theatre Education published in the Youth Theatre Journal. Marisa went on to earn an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education as part of the Arts in Education program (A.I.E.) and dedicated part of her study to a concentration in Human Development & Psychology.
Bec Ray Lowe
Manager of Education Operations
Bec Ray Lowe
Bec Ray Lowe(they/he) is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who is in their 3rd season at The Huntington. They graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Savannah campus in Spring 2020 with a BFA in Dramatic Writing and a minor in Music Composition. Prior to joining The Huntington in 2022, they worked at Wellesley Theatre Project as a teaching artist in a variety of roles, primarily within the wardrobe department. They have worked as a trans sensitivity reader, and as a reader for Fresh Ink Theatre’s 2024/2025 season. They are a founding member of The Huntington Pride Committee, acting as a leader for The Huntington’s participation in the Boston Pride for the People Parade since 2023.
Kalee Burrows
Manager of Curriculum and Instruction
Kalee Burrows
Kalee Burrows (she/her) is a queer theatre artist, writer, and educator in Boston, MA. She teaches and works with young people and adults in schools, studios, and theatre spaces across the globe. These participating organizations include The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, The Huntington, Boston Lyric Opera, SpeakEasy Stage Company, The Boston Center for the Arts, The Hanover Theatre & Conservatory, Company One, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, The New Art Center, and Little Theatre of Fall River. Officially recognized as a Certified Artist by the City of Boston, Kalee is a skilled practitioner in devised theatre and arts education.
Latasha Snider
Education Programs Associate
Latasha Snider
Latasha Snider (she/her/hers) Education Programs Associate, is an actor, poet, writer, Codman Academy Alum’14 and now educator. Latasha received a BA from Assumption College in 2018. As an actor, Latasha has showcased her talent many times on our stage since 2012. Her iconic roles include Puck (Midsummer Nights Dream), Jaques (As you like it) and Marc Antony (Julius Caesar). Latasha was also a part of the Codman Poetry Slam Team who were the 2013 Massachusetts Louder Than a Bomb champions. This will be her first season with The Huntington. Latasha plans to pull from her experience as a Codman student and her passion for the arts to help bridge education and theater. In Latasha’s free time she enjoys go kart racing, spending time with family and going to arcades!
Frances Hellums
Education Associate
Frances Hellums
Frances Hellums (she/her) Regional (acting): The Tempest (Theater in the Open); And Your Little Dog Too (Apollinaire Theatre). University (acting): Sunlight Interior, Appropriate, My Fair Lady (Boston University). Dramaturgy: Hack (SheNYC). Directing: The Lady with the Lap Dog, Sometime When Everything Has Changed (Boston University). Education: BFA Theatre Arts Performance with concentrations in directing and musical theatre (Boston University). franceshellums.com @fbhellums
Naheem Garcia
Resident Teaching Artist
Naheem Garcia
Naheem Garcia (he/him/el) Alexis Rene Garcia, professionally known as Naheem Garcia, has been an actor and theatre educator for thirty years. He grew up in Boston, MA, arriving here from Cuba with his mother, grandmother, and aunt in 1968. This proud bilingual (English and Spanish) artist is known for his deep, mellifluous voice. As a teenager, Naheem developed his acting skills in Boston Youth Theater and received his formal training in theater arts at New African Company, where he has been a Distinguished Artist-In-Residence since 2004. Naheem is the Founder and lead teaching Artist for NG edutainment, an Arts/Education Program, founded in Boston Massachusetts. He is the Residence Teaching Artist and a member of The Huntington’s Education Department, for close to 30 years.
Kortney Adams
Teaching Artist
Kortney Adams
Kortney Adams (she/her/hers) Teaching Artist, August Wilson Monologue Competition has been working as an actor, director, and teaching artist in Boston since 2002. Before becoming a theater artist, Kortney was a practicing environmental engineer, and holds BS and MS degrees from Washington University and MIT. In addition to performing on professional stages throughout New England, Kortney has also appeared in numerous films, television and radio spots, and educational videos. In recent years, Kortney has been the Artistic Director of Deana’s Educational Theater Company, Associate Director of Education for Wheelock Family Theatre, and the Associate Director for City Stage Co. of Boston. Kortney began teaching for the Huntington in 2016. She is currently the Education Manager for Central Square Theater, and also the Managing Director of Theatre Espresso.
Jesse Garlick
Teaching Artist
Jesse Garlick
Jesse Garlick is a Boston-based actor, director and theater educator. Select regional credits: The Band’s Visit (Huntington Theater Company/ Speakeasy Stage) A Christmas Carol, Journey to the West, Arcadia (Central Square Theatre) Good, Assassins (New Repertory Theatre) A Story Beyond, Yellow Bird Chase, Who Would be King (Liars and Believers) Hamlet, As You Like It (Brown Box Theatre Project).
Keith Mascoll
Teaching Artist
Keith Mascoll
Keith Mascoll (He/Him/His) SAG-AFTRA, AEA is an Actor, Producer, Mental Health advocate, Sneaker-head, and Founder of the Triggered Project. Keith is a co-host/Producer of the Living a Triggered Life Podcast with his wife Roxann, a Luminary for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2021 Cambridge Community Foundation Social Innovation Award winner, and NASW MA Chapter’s Citizen of the year 2021. Keith strives to use his art for social change in the black and brown community. As a survivor of sexual abuse Keith hopes to help end the stigma that surrounds mental health, and black and brown men.
Oliver Rizzo
Teaching Artist
Oliver Rizzo
Oliver Rizzo (he/him) returns to The Education Department having recently been our Stage Manager for this summer’s production of Two Gentlemen Verona. Oliver Rizzo is a trans theatre artist & activist based in Boston and a graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in Theatre Education & Performance. With a Theatre Education Area Department Award upon graduation a year ago, he works as a freelance actor, teaching artist, stage manager, and stage electrician. He is currently working with The Huntington and The Park School as a theatre educator, working with students in grades 6-12.
Jalyse Ware
Teaching Artist
Jalyse Ware
Jalyse Ware (she/her) is a new teaching artist in our department. Jalyse is a performing arts teacher and professional with over 10 years of experience in theatre and 5 years of Hip-Hop as an independent artist.
The Huntington’s Department of Education is a proud member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education.
The Huntington’s Department of Education is a proud member of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.