About The 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.
Collaborators
Our collaborators include Boston Public Schools, Codman Academy Charter Public School, YMCA, National Endowment for the Arts, and 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.
Our Statement of Purpose
“The Huntington Theatre Company’s Education Department extends the theatre’s impact by providing theatrical experiences that are grounded in authenticity, inclusiveness, and professionalism, and that reflect the diversity of its communities. Drawing on the expertise of master educators, professionals, and artists, both in-residence and from the extended Huntington family, the Department creates lifelong learning opportunities for audience members and future artists in the field by removing both real and perceived social, financial, and physical barriers to participation.”
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 excited to join the Education Department after almost a year in The Huntington’s box office. They graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Spring 2020 with a BFA in dramatic writing and a minor in music composition.
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/hers) is an actor, director, and educator. Born in London, England, raised in Houston, Texas, she is now based out of the Greater Boston area.
Frances is a graduate of Boston University School of Theatre where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts Performance with artistic concentrations in Musical Theatre and Directing as well as an academic concentration in Applied Human Development and Psychology. While at Boston University Frances spent time at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France where she studied French, painting, and psychology. She also attended ballet classes at L’Ecole de Danse Classique d’Aix. She is also a proud alum of the Vineyard Arts Project Musical Theatre Lab and Boston University Summer Theatre Institute.
Naheem Garcia
Resident Teaching Artist
Naheem Garcia
Naheem Garcia (he/him/el), Teaching Artist, Codman Academy Partnership and August Wilson Monologue Competition, professionally known as Naheem, has been an actor and theatre educator for more than twenty years. He grew up in Boston, arriving here from Cuba with his mother, grandmother and aunt in 1968. He is proudly bilingual (English and Spanish) and known for his deep, mellifluous voice. Naheem has worked extensively in the Northeast, including with The Huntington Theatre Company, Boston Youth Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Company One, Kennedy Library (Moakley Public Speaking Program), and New African Theatre Company.
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.
Kalee Burrows
Teaching Artist
Kalee Burrows
Kalee Burrows 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.
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 an award-winning trans theatre artist and activist based in Boston and a graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in Theatre Education & Performance. 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