"Arts in Education is the infusion of the arts into the educational process."

For most of the 20th century, theatre in public schools was viewed by most of the academic community (and thereby by most students and most parents) as a purely extra curricular activity. In high schools, (and occasionally in middle schools) there were elective drama courses and perhaps two school plays a year--usually presented for the purpose of entertaining the parents who could bask in watching their children performing under bright lights in makeup and costumes and receiving rounds of applause for showing their skills and talents.

Off stage, however, student devotees of what has been called "the second oldest profession," were viewed by the student population largely as an elite clique of kids who just didn't quite fit in with the rest of the school culture and those who built and painted sets, designed and made costumes gathered and organized stage props and even learned to provide stage lighting-- almost always with unlimited and inefficient equipment--were considered those who couldn't quite make it as actors and were relegated, as some non-drama teachers put it, "to do the dirty work," while the chosen few (the actors) got the glory.

As Bob Dylan sang, "the times they are a changing!" Due in large part to the burgeoning of the international arts-in-education movement, the theatre arts are taking on a new and vital role in the educationl community, recognized and valued by educators, student bodies and parents alike.

Middle schools are regularly hiring licensed drama teachers. High school productions from all over the country are touring and competing regularly at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., students are writing their own plays and using the productions as a catalyst for community forums and discussions of those issues. Schools are hiring professional actors to teach and perform with students. Producers, directors and designers with decades of experience in the commercial theatre are being brought into classrooms to share their experience and expertise with students.

It is increasingly being recognized and acknowledged that theatre is a superb teaching tool for every aspect of the school curriculum--history and literature, of course, in period shows or with a rich, cultural context; physics, math, electronics, electrical systems, visual art, music and drafting in lighting and sound; calculus and trigonometry in stage rigging; home economics skills in costuming; carpentry, welding, metal working, painting, sculpture and math in set building; and chemistry in working with paints, solvents and adhesives used in painting scenery.

And as everyone who has ever been involved in the production of a play knows full well, theatre, by its very nature, teaches cooperative behavior, self-discipline, personal responsibility and hands-on conflict resolution.

This special summer edition of "The Journal for Enlightened Education: New Realities for Our Children" celebrates the transformative theatre magic in our schools all over America.

--The editors