Critics and Awards Program For High School Students

Critics And Awards Program For High School Students

The Cappies (Critics and Awards Program) is an international program for recognizing, celebrating, and providing learning experiences for high school theater and journalism students and teenage playwrights. There are currently 17 Cappies programs in the U.S. and Canada, ranging in size from five to fifty-five participating high schools. Within each program, every participating high school selects three to nine students for a critic team. After receiving intensive training in theater criticism and review writing, they attend plays and musicals at other high schools in their area. They write reviews (of roughly 400 words) on deadline. Volunteer teacher-mentors lead discussions and select the critic-written reviews that are later published by area newspapers, with student bylines. The programs operate in and around Baltimore, Maryland (see "the Cappies in Baltimore, Maryland"); Cincinnati, Ohio; Dallas, Texas; El Paso, Texas; Ft. Lauderdale – Palm Beach, Florida; Houston, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Melbourne, Florida; Northern New Jersey; Orange County, California; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia, PA; St. Louis, Missouri; Salt Lake City, Utah; Springfield, Missouri; Washington, DC; Edmonton, Canada; and Ottawa, Canada. To start a Cappies program, a group of interested persons must organize a local Steering Committee and apply for a charter. There is no fee for the first year, but costs of Cappies for schools are rising. According to Cynthia Bates, an Ottawa school teacher, "there was previously a capital reserve fund that helped to offset the immense costs associated with Cappies. This fund has been eliminated - now each school is asked to come up with $1,400 to register." Unfortunately Cappies may become a more expensive, exclusive program, which goes against the founders vision. The Cappies is a charitable organization, and the adults who run the program are volunteers.