My Arts & Education Committee always get funding approved to have this wonderful organization bring live theater to our local elementary schools. The kids are riveted. Some are inspired to study theater. Very professional organization.
I recently attended a storytelling event "The Whole World's A'Talkin' featuring Johanna Middleton at the Hollydale Library in South Gate. It was amazing! Ms. Middleton's acting, energy, and choreography all helped to bring the characters and lessons to life. Although the parables are intended for young audiences, they touched me in a lasting way. I can just imagine the shows on stages at school assemblies. Local libraries are excellent partners for this work. All the best to you and congratulations on an important and entertaining mission.
Our school had the privilege of being providing with two Enrichment Works Performances this year. Our primary students viewed Aesop’s Fables and our upper grade students viewed Yankee Doodle Poetry. The actors were very engaging and encouraged our students to participate during the performance. The actors were energetic and linked their performance to concepts and themes being taught in the classroom. Overall, our students enjoyed themselves and learned so much. I would recommend an Enrichment Works performance to any school.
Our kindergarten classes had the pleasure of watching "Aesops Fables" recently and the auditorium was lit with smiles. The actors arrived a little early to set up and were punctual in beginning the performance. They engaged children and included discussing vocabulary (e.g., props, costumes, etc.) at the end of the play. It was so much fun, and our teachers loved it as well. Thank you Enrichment Works for bringing our school a truly joyous, rich experience!!
We have hired Josh to perform the Voyage of Odysseus for 3 years in a row at our middle school Day of the Ancients. His performance is entertaining, engaging, participatory, and informative. He also has incredible control over a crowd of 450+ 11-12 year olds. The office staff at Enrichment Works is responsive and helpful. We will continue to ask him back for as many years as we have the funding and are providing this experience for our students.
I work with children and adults of all ages in educational and therapeutic environments. I have had the privilege of watching a handful of the Enrichment Works performances and observe acting and circus classes taught by their instructors. Every person I have meet from Enrichment Works is highly professional and interactive with their lesson or performance. They incorporate education and energy into the performances and the children are so intrigued and want to watch more. I highly recommend all schools have Enrichment Works work with their children either by performing for them or have them participate in their educational classes.
I had the opportunity to view one of EnrichmentWorks' long-standing performers, Josh Feinman, navigate the waters of after-school education while on hiatus from my own classroom.
His adaptation of the "Voyage of Odysseus" had pre-schoolers in the Los Angeles area laughing hysterically, while simulanteously presenting them with a classic tale. His simple props and garb, left just enough room for each child's imagination to run wild. Feinman's choice of engaging challenges, bolstered by enthusiastic audience participation was spot on.
I highly recommend this program to all who seek professionalism in the arts and education of our youth.
Hands down the best interactive, educational and entertaining shows I have ever seen or heard in all my years of Arts Education.
josh feinman
Enrichment Works has spent the last decade bringing live theater into Los Angeles area schools to those who, in sadly too many cases, have never been exposed to live theater, dance music or performance art. These beautifully written and performed curriculum based pieces have proven to excite the audiences/students in a way a simple lesson can't. EW also has provided professional development workshops for teachers on ways to incorporate the arts into the curriculum. I have personally been involved in every aspect of EW as a theater professional, as a director and a certified LA County Arts Professional and can vouch for the organizations commitment to inspiring learning and provide the highest quality experience. I have seen first hand the results of a multi-purpose room transformed into an interactive experience filled with laughing and gasps of wonder at an Enrichment Works assembly. I have seen teachers, exhausted by a long day, light up by the end of a professional development workshop that taught them to further encourage the artist within their students, no matter what the ability, because they had a better understanding of their own creative impulses. Enrichment Works deserves support to continue its great work and I am proud to be a part of it. Growing up, I couldn't concentrate or read a book but when the teachers used music or theater I was inspired to research more about whatever the topic. I was a student who needed an organization like EW!
Enrichment Works not only brings much needed stories to complement curriculum, but inspires children's imagination. The theatricality of performances - whether in a cafeteria or auditorium, one person or three, vibrant costumes or making props out of nothing - triggers parts of children's creativity more often cut from their school day.
I will never forget the experience of a roomful of high school teachers mostly unbelieving that the play SOR JUANA applied to their subject matter, or be anything more than critical time taken out of their day. I persevered and by the end of our forty minutes, even the physical education department brainstormed some ideas.
Enrichment Works has been fulfilling their mission of "theatre to inspire learning" for over 12 years in Los Angeles - often serving the most underserved and poorest demographic in the LA public schools. I have personally seen the magic that this brings to classrooms. I have seen the change in young kids as this magic unfolds in front of them. The organization is facing tough times, due to the financial situation that we are all in at the moment. After-school enrichment has been drastically cut back, and Enrichment Works is actively looking for and finding innovative ways to continue their mission. I cannot speak too highly of them.
The mission of Enrichment Works -- theater to inspire learning -- is so simple and the quality of the group's productions so high, that it is a pleasure to be involved. I have witnessed performances where children were fully engaged and seen performers show extraordinary care in answering questions during post-play Q&A. What's more, this nonprofit seems to have its finger on the pulse of what is happening around us, with timely original work about childhood obesity, financial literacy, humane treatment of animals, gun safety and more in addition to curriculum-based stories that make learning come alive. Support this group!
Enrichment Works provided a 10 week circus class for our children at Hamlin Street Elementary school through Noble Kids program, grades K through 5 th. They had such a wonderful time not only learning about what clowns do in a circus, but the hand and eye coordination from learning to juggle and the self esteem and accomplishment they received for participating in doing something they never thought they could, was immeasurable.
Thank you
Enrichment Works
I have watched Enrichment Works in action from its conception, over ten years ago. The high quality of the curriculum-based theatre that is presented to the student audiences comes from the integrity and talent of its founder, Abraham Tetenbaum, who saw a need because of his own child's experience and decided to do something about it.
The magic happens when children (some who have never seen a show before) are introduced to great characters from history (Albert Einstein, a Gold Rush pioneer woman, Degas....) who come alive, reveal more than facts and inspire the children to expand their minds. Or when the kids scream at the Money Monster and begin to understand how the financial system works because they are personally invested. Or when they learn along with MC Vendor (a vending machine) about nutrition and that they may choose to eat in a healthier manner.
It is my pleasure to serve on the Board of this worthy non-profit. I always have to wipe a tear away when i watch the faces of the young audiences who are totally enchanted by the shows they are seeing. Each of these little faces deserves to learn in their own way and I know for myself, it was through the Arts. I feel the excitement in the room and the imaginations ignited - imaginations who will then create the future after having been inspired in a conscious, uplifting and entertaining way.
Enrichment Works was commissioned to develop a series of plays for Northridge Hospital's Promoting Alternatives for Teen Health through Artes Teatro. These plays served as an essential tool for teaching teen health and addressing risky behaviors. Enrichment Works truly knows how to conduct "Edutainment" education through entertainment. Their Life is a Circus is another amazing program. Students learned script writing and circus acts and perform their work to their families. An article of the program was featured in the Daily News on July 20, 2010.