ARCHIVED—Recipient Bios
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Year: 2002 – Province: British Columbia
Certificate of Excellence Recipients
Jack Trovato
School: Alpha Secondary School
4600 Parker Street
Burnaby, British Columbia V5C 3E2
Principal: Sheila Pierce
School Telephone: 604-664-8535
School Fax: 604-664-8541
School Website: www.alphasecondary.com
Grades/Subjects Taught: Grades 8-12, drama
Teaching Approach:
- Find ways to meet the course requirements that are fun, creative and innovative.
- Encourage students to think critically, care deeply, act wisely and fulfil their individual potentials, ready to meet the future as educated citizens and productive members of society.
- Cultivate students' aesthetic and artistic growth, and help them value cultural expression, discover and appreciate beauty and respond and reflect in an expressive yet sensitive and respectful manner.
Outstanding Achievements:
Revitalized and expanded the school's drama program. In three years, enrolment has soared, the scope and quality of drama productions has increased, and the school is now recognized as a leader in the performing arts in the Burnaby school district. Courses are organized in three categories: exploration and imagination, drama skills, and contexts to teach a broad range of skills applicable to later life, not just the performing arts.
Since drama education requires subjective assessment techniques, Trovato devised specific criterion-based evaluation and holistic rubrics for student assessment, now adopted by drama educators throughout the school district.
Founded an extra- and co-curricular theatre company to showcase knowledge, skills and attitudes learned in class. Students participate in school-wide theatre productions, have placed in the top three in each of the past three years at the interdistrict Metropolitan Theatre Festival and second at the 24-hour Film Contest (as the only student entry) and gain acting roles outside of school.
Despite limited resources, Trovato has managed to provide students with leading-edge tools, techniques and instruction in various aspects of filmmaking, including a filmmaking course to prepare students to take advantage of growing "Hollywood North" employment opportunities.
Rave Reviews:
"Jack Travato is a director. He helps direct high school plays and, more importantly, he helps give the lives of people like me direction." Former student
"In my 31 years as a teacher and administrator, I have not seen any one teacher have such an impact on a school's climate and culture as Jack Trovato did." Former principal