FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BSC Press Director Charlie Siedenburg, 551-655-0968

BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY PARTNERS WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
TO OFFER FREE “YOUTH LEADERSHIP UNPLUGGED” YOUTH WORKER TRAINING
Participants Awarded Certificate of Completion and Internship with a Participating Organization

(PITTSFIELD, MA) January 30, 2013 – Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, is proud to partner with the community to offer Youth Leadership Unplugged, free youth worker training for teens and young adults, this March in North Adams.

Youth Leadership Unplugged includes 12 hours of free youth worker training for teens and young adults, and participants who attend the full training will receive a certificate of completion and a volunteer internship at a participating organization (such as Barrington Stage Company, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, MCLA, Greylock Elementary School, and more). The organizations listed have worked together to develop this program and will take turns leading the workshops during the three days and will also work with participants to place them in internships.

The workshops offered include:

  • Community Leadership – Richard Alcombright, Mayor of North Adams
  • Creative Writing for Youth – Annie Yenolevich, Teacher, Greylock Elementary School
  • Assertiveness: Teaching Teens to Express their Needs – Kate Merrigan, UNITY Program Coordinator, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition
  • Using the Arts for Decision Making and Conflict Resolution – Frank La Frazia, Director of Playwright Mentoring Project, Barrington Stage Company
  • Teambuilding, Trustbuilding, and Classroom Management – Hester Kamin, Director of Education, Barrington Stage Company
  • Sex Ed for Teens – Northern Berkshire Community Coalition

These community organizations are coming together to offer training for teens and young adults who want “behind-the-scenes” training about how to initiate a project, structure time, and manage a group and who want the opportunity to have an internship in their field of interest.

Youth Leadership Unplugged will be held on Saturdays, March 2, 9 and 16 from 9am-1pm at the Third Floor Library, City Hall of North Adams, 10 Main Street, North Adams, MA. Lunch will be provided. Participants must be present on all three days. Space is limited. To register, call Barrington Stage’s education department at (413) 997-6118. The registration deadline is Friday, February 22, 2013.

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