Paige Boyon’s Portfolio

Education & Directing

Teaching Philosophy

Student Teaching

In my undergrad, I have had the privilege of working with children aged three to eighteen in the Greater Boston area, including Jumpstart, Wellesley Public Schools, the Londonderry School District, and Central Square Theater. I implement inclusivity in my curriculum allow my students to have agency over their own learning and feel comfortable to share their voice in the rooms I lead. My lessons utilize multiple areas of intelligence to encourage engagement from all learners. While I found my place in theater through my exposure to a performance art, as an educator, I’ve learned the power of using theater education as a tool for social and emotional learning. Empathy will always be the core to my classroom and rehearsal room communities, and I encourage my students and actors to:

I strive to cultivate a shared humanity between my students and initiate lifelong engagement with the performing arts in my classroom and rehearsal room. Discovering the theater in at such a young age provided me with the voice and community I wasn’t able to find through other extracurriculars. At my first drama club rehearsal in elementary school, I had an immediate realization that I discovered my lifelong passion. I have been lucky enough to enter the theater industry as an educator to guide young artists into paving their own way.

Following my junior year of high school as I began to fill out college applications, I spent the summer as a camp counselor at my local community theater. I served as the director for weekly themed musical showcases for middle school students. Each Monday of July and August, I was met with a new group of kids who were interested in the week’s performance theme (Fairytale Week, Hollywood Week, etc). On the first day of the summer program, I had one boy in my group who was a little apprehensive to participate in the theater games I had prepared and to sing and dance. I prioritized making him feel as comfortable as possible by telling him to partake in group activities at the level he was comfortable at, and when it came to casting him in the showcase, we worked together to find a role that he was deeply interested in, even if it pushed him outside of his wheelhouse. He found so much joy in solo in a group number of Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat (part of Decades Week), and I congratulated him on a performance well done after bows. I was shocked when I saw him enter the theater’s front doors the following Monday, returning to camp to continue performing. Then the next. Then the next. He had asked his mother to sign him up for the entire program after our first session together. At the end of August, I received a thank you letter from him which read, “You gave me the confidence to be myself and audition for my first show.” It’s been in my desk drawer for the last four years, and serves as my greatest reminder why I decided to go to school for theater education: All children need to have agency over their creativity and feel comfortable to share their perspectives.

Come as you are.