Oakland Technical High School wins AHSTF Award

Drama Program will perform in Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2010

The Oakland Technical High School Drama Department under the direction of Jessa Brie Berkner has been selected as one of the fifty best high school drama departments in the United States and will perform as part of the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF) in the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s largest and most prestigious arts festival.

Approximately two thousand high school drama programs were nominated to apply for participation in AHSTF.  The AHSTF Board of Advisers reviewed all applications and identified the top 50 high school drama programs based on their most recent bodies of work, awards, community involvement, philosophies and recommendations. Although six Oakland schools have received nominations in the past, Oakland Technical High School is the first public high school in Oakland to win the award. In fact, of the four Bay Area high schools selected this year, Oakland Technical High School is the only public high school.

Each August, Edinburgh, Scotland, becomes the most magical and exciting place on earth as performing artists comes from all over the world to take part in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The Fringe Festival includes over 1800 different performances of music, theater, dance and comedy during its three-week run. Oakland Technical High School’s performance will be showcased at the AHSTF venue in Edinburgh August, 2010.

Fundraising Information

Oakland Technical High School drama students, their parents, and teachers need to raise significant funds to finance their participation as part of AHSTF in the Fringe Festival. Your tax-deductible contribution is welcome. Please make checks payable to Oakland Technical High School PTSA, with the words “Theater Festival” or “AHSTF” in the subject line. For more information, contact Ms. Berkner at jessabrie@gmail.com.

American High School Theatre Festival runs in conjunction with the world renown Edinburgh Fringe Festival – the world’s largest performing arts festival, which takes place each August in Edinburgh, Scotland. To select the schools who will participate, AHSTF relies on state, regional, and national theatre organizations and university theatre professors to nominate the nation’s top high school theatre programs. Each nominated school receives an application, and all completed applications are reviewed by the AHSTF Board of Advisers. The panel of college theatre professionals comes from all corners of the country. Top high school programs are identified based on their most recent bodies of work, awards, community involvement, philosophies, and recommendations. To promote diverse participation, AHSTF does not allow schools to participate in back to back years. The selected schools are notified in the spring of each year, allowing them more than a full year to plan their once-in-a-lifetime performance on AHSTF’s world stage.

To learn more about the American High School Theatre Festival and the Fringe Festival, please visit the ATHSF website.