About Us
Founded in 1987, ENACT is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that uses its pioneering creative drama approach to promote self-awareness for dynamic change in New York City public schools. ENACT’s pioneering interactive and participatory approach goes beyond traditional teaching methods, transforming not just the student, but the classroom environment and overall school climate.
ENACT’s teaching artists - professional actors with extensive film, television, and theatre credits - engage in interactive classroom-based activities and specialized role-play, to help students become more productive in school and in their lives. The ENACT team – teaching artists, educators, social workers, and drama therapists – works collaboratively with teachers and administrators at schools all over the City to show students how to identify and remove the barriers that prevent them from learning. ENACT builds an atmosphere of trust within which students:
- Reflect on and communicate feelings
- Identify decision making moments
- Recognize the impact of one’s actions
- Navigate toward positive outcomes
The ENACT method »
Defining Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) »
Through in-school and after-school student programs, parent and family workshops, professional staff development, and auditorium performances, ENACT actively works to change classroom environments based on the following core values:
- To create an environment of respect, trust, safety and kindness
- To practice non-judgment
- To work towards our highest potential
- To validate the creative process
- To support growth and change through self-awareness
- To practice positive communication
- To make conscious choices and accept responsibility for outcomes
- To create peaceful solutions
In 2008, through a grant from the Ford Foundation, independent researchers found that “ENACT artists engaged students who were initially resistant. Students began to better understand their emotions, express themselves, and take ownership of their behavior.”
