Q&A: As America turns 250, SPIRIT SERIES teaches democracy through theater

Since 2001, nearly 70,000 students across the United States have participated in SPIRIT SERIES, an award-winning drama-based educational program that challenges students to study, co-write, stage and perform inspiring one-act historical biographies of figures such as Socrates, Harriet Tubman, the Buddha and Galileo.

Now, as the country celebrates 250 years since its founding, the organization is launching its most ambitious effort yet: “The Founding,” a new one-act play focused on Benjamin Franklin and the framers of the Constitution.

A digital “On Screen” version will be available to schools nationwide in January 2027 with the goal of reaching 10,000 students over three years. SPIRIT SERIES subsidizes the main share of the program’s cost. The team has a lot to do before January. SPIRIT SERIES founders Leslie and Richard Strauss — she a longtime museum and arts education administrator, he a veteran writer for stage and screen — asked Youth Today to help them get the word out. These are excerpts from my interview with them.

Q: Why this play, and why now?

Leslie and Richard Strauss: As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, questions about democracy, civic trust, public responsibility and national identity are front and center. These are the values Benjamin Franklin devoted his life to. We believe this milestone is an important opportunity to help students encounter the American Revolution not simply as a historical event but as a living civic inheritance. We want to help young people understand that democracy depends on participation, compromise, responsibility and a willingness to belong to something larger than oneself.

[Related: Civic skills for 20 million young people — A Q&A with Rajiv Vinnakota]

“The Founding” is a history and positive values curriculum, dramatizing the struggle of the American framers to create a new democratic government — one that prioritized the common good over self-interest — culminating in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Rather than presenting history as a static lesson, the play invites students to step into the experience of building a democracy — and to wrestle with questions that remain deeply relevant today.

My quick online search found several features of SPIRIT SERIES’ approach that receive repeated praise: 1) every student participates and receives a speaking part, 2) casting is done by lottery rather than audition, 3) the plays are integrated into required history and language-arts curricula, and 4) the historical and philosophical themes are intentionally challenging.

Q: What else does SPIRIT SERIES do to make this a powerful experience for both staff and students?

We make it immersive — a meaningful and exciting team experience. Students perform “on book,” which means they do not need to memorize their lines. The entire class remains on stage throughout the performance as a collective chorus. Staging requirements are intentionally minimal: one chair per student plus one additional chair. Productions can be mounted in an auditorium, multipurpose room, cafeteria or outdoor setting. And the full performance fits comfortably within a standard school period — running approximately 45-50 minutes, including a 10-minute audience question-and-answer session.

Q: Most teachers aren’t theater directors. How does a regular classroom pull this off in three weeks?

For the students, we provide a sequence of professionally produced daily video lessons led by engaging SPIRIT SERIES educators throughout the three-week unit. These lessons introduce historical content, explore the play’s themes and serve as the foundation for teacher-led classroom discussions and the production process.

“The Founding” will be available in both hybrid and fully online models. In the hybrid model, classroom teachers facilitate the first two weeks of instruction using the video curriculum. The final week includes in-person rehearsals led by a SPIRIT SERIES teaching artist who also provides costumes and scenic elements. We also provide educator-facing preparation videos to support teachers from the first two weeks of instruction through to the final week of rehearsals and performances. In addition, every participating classroom is assigned a SPIRIT SERIES concierge who provides individualized support and answers questions.

Q: The photos from your earlier plays speak for themselves. Are early responses from your pilots of “The Founding” equally positive?

Nearly 150 students piloted “The Founding” this spring. The response has been striking. Students described the experience as immersive, memorable and meaningful.

“You weren’t just reading a book, you WERE The Founding.” — Carter, eighth grade

“I learned that the Founders had very different views but were united by a common goal.” — Layla, eighth grade

“We’re eighth graders. We usually don’t want to do anything, but everyone came together and really did their best.” — Haley, eighth grade

Q: Did parents notice a difference?

Parents described the program as unusually powerful and timely. One parent, Mia Rondinella, said the program gave students a deeper understanding of “the complexity, controversy and creativity that surrounded the founding of our country.”

She added that her son was “literally imprinted by this experience,” and that the discussions in their home, his understanding of current events and his awakening around rights and the responsibilities of citizenship had become palpable.

Q: What results are associated with SPIRIT SERIES plays?

After the SPIRIT SERIES experience, teachers reported class improvement in academic and social-emotional skills averaging 25.5%. More than 90% of students report improved teamwork after participating, schools count a 32.3% decrease in absenteeism during the SPIRIT SERIES residency, and nearly 82% of participating teachers said that the SERIES elevates focus. And these results are pretty consistent across all types of schools.

[Related: Six reasons to read ‘Teen-Centered Civics for Human Thriving’ today]

Paul Cummins, the founder of Crossroads School in Los Angeles, explained it this way: “SPIRIT SERIES works in so many diverse school communities because it offers the kind of engagement and meaning that students desperately seek, but cannot find elsewhere in their education.”

Q: The performance is only part of it. What are students asked to reflect on?

SPIRIT SERIES plays are designed to cultivate critical thinking, personal reflection and civic awareness. “The Founding” begins with three essential questions:

(1) Do you feel part of something larger than yourself?

(2) What do we gain by belonging to a community?

(3) What responsibilities come with membership in a group?

Students revisit these questions throughout the three-week experience and conclude the unit by writing a reflective essay connecting the play’s themes to their own lives. For “The Founding,” additional journal prompts based on Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues — including moderation, justice and humility — encourage students to examine their values, actions and responsibilities as citizens and community members.

Q: Youth Today reaches many people working in community-based settings — afterschool and summer programs, community centers, libraries, faith organizations. Can they access “The Founding,” and what does it cost?

While we work primarily at the school and district levels, we’re always happy to meet with leaders of other organizations to determine if they have the right infrastructure and setup for success. The main requirement is consistent staffing and participant attendance. We book slots based on capacity and demand, enrolling schools and partner organizations in real time throughout the year. It isn’t too early to reach out to school leaders to encourage them to apply and suggest ways that community organizations could support classroom teachers or take on the curriculum themselves.

SPIRIT SERIES subsidizes the main share of the program’s cost, but the price to partner organizations depends on their capacity to pay. A recent $500,000 matching grant from the Coxe Family Fund has launched a $1.25 million campaign to help “The Founding” meet its outreach goal, starting with making the hybrid version available in the Greater Los Angeles region, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City and Central Texas.

To learn more: https://spiritseries.org/plays/the-founding/

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Richard Strauss, founder and national executive director of SPIRIT SERIES, has written for stage and screen since 1979, authoring historical fiction and biographies for Fox, MGM, Paramount, Columbia, Showtime and independent film companies. He founded SPIRIT SERIES in 2001 in response to the crisis in public education and a personal tragedy in his young daughter’s life.

Leslie Rachel Strauss, national co-director, spent more than 20 years as a museum and arts education administrator before becoming co-director in 2009. She serves on several arts and education boards and is a certified professional coach specializing in leadership and teambuilding for nonprofit organizations.