Necessary Arts
Naima Thompson
Naima Thompson
I am an educator of Communication Arts and started teaching in 1992, two years before I graduated from St. Francis College in New York. While attaining an undergraduate, I worked as a theater arts teacher at Boys’ Harbor Inc. located in Harlem, N.Y., which was the first of several teaching opportunities throughout the following thirteen years. After graduating in 1994 with a Baccalaureate of Arts in Communication Arts, I worked as a specialized teacher for the Board of Education teaching Drama at the Alternative Education Complex- Harbor for Performing Arts also located in Harlem, NY.
In 2001 I returned to Trinidad and Tobago upon completion of eleven years of service in New York, and immediately commenced employment with the International School of Port of Spain (ISPS) as a Communication Arts instructor. In this capacity, I am conducting courses in English and the Media, Drama Production, Video Production and Leadership skills for the High School, while teaching Theatre Arts and producing plays for the Middle School through its Exploratory program and its ‘Arts Wheel’ program. At ISPS I have had the privilege of staging full- scale productions for both the Middle and High Schools. A list of these plays include Disney’s ‘The Lion King’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Jungle Book’ and ‘Snow White’ for the Middle School and Tennessee Williams’ ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ for the High School. Presently, the High School is in rehearsal for James Laurence’s ‘June Groom’ the chosen production for this year. Over the past four years I have also implemented the Video Production program where students in the high school are required to complete individual and group video shorts while utilizing their craft in other content areas.
From 2002 to 2004, while working full time at ISPS, I earned a Masters Degree in Education from Framingham State College in Boston, Massachusetts through the long distance program hosted by the ISPS. Simultaneously, I founded a non- profit institution called Necessary Arts School whose motto reads -to stimulate minds through artistic expression. Necessary Arts School offers an opportunity for at-risk youth to explore and develop their talents while becoming more focused in their long- term goals. At the school students are exposed to a variety of artistic disciplines. These include, but are not limited to, Steel-pan, Voice training, Airbrush design, video Production, Dance, Acting and Leadership Skills. The training participants receive in these workshops is showcased through social, thematic plays for the general public. Since its inception, we have produced eight training cycles and performances.
I believe that my experience in New York over the eleven years spent there, as well as the work I have accomplished in Trinidad over the last four years is indicative of my ambition and compassion for teaching while defining my leadership in education. I consider myself to be a global citizen and am very much interested in varying methodologies to address the youth of today.
Necessary Arts in the subject page. Thank you.
