Stage The Change

STAGE THE CHANGE, a program that has now serviced over 5,000 students, was founded in 2013 through the Hauppauge High School Drama program after a staggering response to their original production, “The Anti-Bully Project.” A series of student-written vignettes, “The Anti-Bully Project” was created to address topics including bullying, peer pressure, healthy relationships and other issues important to high school students. After touring performances of “The Anti-Bully Project,” the drama department began to gain recognition throughout New York State from several theater, education and social activist organizations.

​Founding Director, Ruthie Pincus, was thrilled to find that her students were eager to write and share their own perspectives through their creation of thoughtful and conversation-provoking theater.

Pincus recognized the potential to expand beyond the high school setting and explore more and more challenging topics including racism, LGBT acceptance, and human rights issues and more. The next step was clear: Create an open forum to empower students to use their “arts voices” to inspire social change.
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What evolved was a one-day annual conference filled with panel discussions, interactive workshops, keynote speakers and student performances which would encourage and enable students to produce their own original works of theater, film and dance. The conference serves to launch new works created by students, which they can showcase in their own communities and, at the same time, inspire change. As the years passed STC is bringing their work into our schools with Voices of Change and has instituted the Summer Ambassador Leadership Program  for students across to gather and raise their arts voices as a catalyst for change in their communities.