By Daily Press staff
A local teacher has been given the riches to enrich her students’ drama skills. Santa Monica resident Flora Plumb, who is a theatre teacher at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, has been chosen to receive a $2,300 fellowship from the Surdna Foundation. Arts High, where Plumb has taught for 19 years, also has been awarded a complementary grant of $1,500.
Plumb was among 20 educators from 14 specialized public arts high schools nationwide to receive the grant, which aims to help teachers increase their effectiveness in preparing young people for careers or advanced study in the visual and performing arts. Award recipients were evaluated by a peer review panel based on demonstrated excellence both as artists and teachers.
Plumb plans to use the money to learn the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and the Viewpoints technique of improvisation.
“This training will enhance and enrich all my classes,” she said. As part of the fellowship, Plumb and her advanced acting students will develop a performance based on the works of Anton Chekhov, set for Dec. 1 and 2 at the Luckman Intimate Theatre, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA).
Plumb is a resident director and actor with Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills, a company she has worked with for 30 years. She is currently in rehearsal for Lillian Hellman’s “Another Part of the Forest” in the role of Lavinia. The show will open in October at Theatre 40 and includes Arts High student Andrea Tzvetkov in the production.
The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts offers conservatory-style arts training and a rigorous college-preparatory academic curriculum. The tuition-free school is run by the Los Angeles County Office of Education n the campus of CSULA.
The Surdna Foundation, a national family foundation established in 1917, helps support organizations in five program areas: environment, community revitalization, effective citizenry, the nonprofit sector and arts. The Surdna Foundation’s arts program seeks to improve the artistic abilities to teens; the teachers fellowship supports the artistic revitalization of their arts teachers.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 13, 2006. Read the original PDF.