Testimonials

The actors did a great job at promoting conversation about different sub issues within the post presentation discussions. I observed multiple students talking about the scenarios and scenarios after the presentation. I also received several emails from parents stating that my students went home to talk about the presentation which indicates that it helped encourage and facilitate conversations outside of the classroom with their guardians at home!

I loved that the actors stayed in character after they acted out the topic and they responded to the students as the character they were playing. I think this really helped with the feedback and interaction from the students. It made it seem more realistic and really worked through the issues and topics.

The ACT Out experience today with our students was entertaining, but also educational.  Our students were engaged with the presentation and meaningful conversations about difficult issues occurred between our students and the actors.

I think that this is a great program for schools to utilize! This was my first experience with ACT Out and my Bring Change to Mind group loved the performance and it created many topics of conversation for my group!

The interaction between students and actors was phenomenal.  Students were engaged and their questions were thought-provoking.  I appreciate the candor and each of the characters staying in their role throughout the discussion. Elwood students were prompted to take action to bring awareness to mental health issues and positive relationship interactions.

GREAT interaction between the actors and students. Students were very engaged, especially the jr. high level.

The scenarios are realistic and not cheesy. The students don't brush them off because they are silly because they mirror actual relationships. I like that there are same sex scenarios and also one's where the 'abuser' is not the stereotypical male role. Additionally, Zach is phenomenal at debriefing with the students and summarizing what they are saying and navigating their comments.

My staff and I were thrilled to watch how good your actors and Zach were with our students.  It was such a hoot to watch our teens interact with the actors while in character.  Numerous students were talking about specific scenarios and interactions they had during the presentation later in the day.  Rarely to my students ever talk about an educational experience afterwards.  We have a tough crowd in the PASS program, and we were all lucky to have such talented individuals give their time to work with our students.

ACT Out visited on August 29, 30, and 31. In comparing the first two months of school in '23 to our first two months of school in '22, our discipline referrals dropped over 50%. In addition to ACT Out, we implemented a "No-Cell Bell to Bell" policy, daily PE class for all students, and implemented a school wide character trait focus with weekly lessons. Although all of these changes have likely led to improvement, we feel ACT Out had a big impact!  ACT Out provided our students with an engaging learning experience that challenged them to reflect on their interactions with others.  Students are now more aware of how to better support their peers and resolve conflicts that commonly occur during their middle school years of development. Students reported that they felt connected to the actors, liked how they allowed them to be a part of the conversation on topics that related to them, and they have seen improvement in relationships with peers. A 7th grade student said it best:  "ACT Out was just what our school needed.

We found ACT Out to be a wonderfully different way to reach our 6th graders. They were fully engaged during and after the ACT Out performances.  It was especially helpful for the actors to stay in character as the kids asked questions with regard to "you could have done this" or "you could have done that”.  The actors did a great job portraying what we see at school.

ACT Out did an amazing job of engaging pre-teens, a challenging job! I am really thankful we were able to have them at Edison. Thank you ACT Out!

This immersive experience provided students with a unique and valuable opportunity to think critically about a variety of social issues and determine how they can show up in real-world situations in the future.  It was quite evident that this performance will have positive, long-reaching implications on our students and the greater school community.

I am a HUGE fan of Act Out!!  They came to Jordan YMCA summer camp once a week and performed SEL skits.  The skits were very age appropriate and provided a different approach to teaching children important Social Emotional Learning issues.  The actors were very engaging with the kids and made it fun!

I’m always looking for outside organizations to speak to our students about relevant issues that they can learn from in an engaging and interactive way. When ACT Out came across my email, I was very excited to have them come and present to our freshman! As I was talking to other teachers and staff about the program, all of them spoke highly of the performances and said that they couldn’t wait to see them again, I knew this was a good sign!  I will be scheduling another time for ACT Out to come out to our school for the next school year and address different topics. What a fun and interactive way to engage students and teach them coping skills!

ACT Out’s programming was very engaging, and their energy was what our students needed. They helped our students tackle some large social and emotional issues using acting. Teachers and staff need community support in educating our students’ social and emotional brains. We are lucky to have them!

ROOTS is a day treatment program within IPS.  We serve students with mental illness and trauma. This program helped teach our students through various role plays.  The actors were professional and interactive with the students.  The students were interested in the topics discussed and engaged in the presentation. They enjoyed talking directly with the actors about better choices they could have made during the role play. Our students really enjoyed this program!

I saw the eager participation and engagement from my students. The smaller group sizes gave many students an avenue to open up and share their thoughts and problem solving in response to the different situations. It was insightful to hear our students break down their thought processes for their solutions and work through obstacles that the actors presented. Overall, I was highly impressed with the quality of the program, and I think the uniqueness of having real life responses incorporated into a lesson helps this type of curriculum to be impactful in a way that many others cannot be.

“ACT Out is such a unique program, and we immediately saw the benefits of having ACT Out as part of our training opportunities. It’s live, interactive and a great way to really get the conversation started on best practices for dealing with issues relating to diversity, equity and inclusivity. Your facilitator and team