Learning with all of one’s being- the physical body, the mind, the senses, the imagination, the emotions, the power of speech and of concentration – summarizes the Cre-Act (Creative Acting) approach to education.
Cast Photo "Jacky's Magical Beanstalk”
A unique learning center, the Franciscan Cre-Act Elementary School is operated by the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. It is interdenominational, non-profit and places a strong emphasis on the visual and performing arts, with a focus on learned creativity.
As technology expands its scope, there is a greater need for artists, dramatists, and musicians to develop the human and aesthetic aspects of life. Quality education requires a more creative environment, better curriculum designs, and time to develop resources, ideas and means of experimentation.
Recent research indicates that not all students learn the same way, and that for some, the right side of the brain with its aesthetic and creative powers plays a dominant role in the learning process.
A Brief History of the Franciscan Cre-Act School:
The Franciscan Cre-Act School has its roots in the doctoral research of its founder, Mother Dorothy Prokes, F.S.E. In January, 1970, the program Creative Acting (Cre-Act) began in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, as a pilot experimental research project in partial fulfillment for a Doctoral Degree in Educational Theater from New York University. From September, 1972 to September, 1976, the program continued in the form of classes, seminars and workshops in various schools and educational groups in Pocatello, Idaho.
The Franciscan Cre-Act School Opened in 1976 with grades 1-3 and was located in the lower level of the First Congregational Church. 309 North Garfield, in Pocatello. A successive grade was added each year. As enrollment grew, additional space was needed. In 1981, the school was moved into the former Emerson School Building, 526 South Grant, where it is located today.
The traditional goals of education based upon mastery of the accumulated wisdom and ideas of the past are no longer adequate to meet the needs of students to be adaptable and capable of managing, developing and resolving situations. To meet this need we must nurture pupil imagination, creativity and inventiveness: we must determine how instruction can be used to focus on the unresolved as well as solved areas of study.
For this reason, the curriculum of the Franciscan Cre-Act School is built on the heritage of the past, accepts the challenges of the present, and projects into the future. It is an approach to building the kind of life which remains not an alien and confusing environment, but a place in which a child touches and in turn is touched by truth, beauty, justice and love.
As technology expands its scope, there is a greater need for artists, dramatists, and musicians to develop the human and aesthetic aspects of life. Quality education requires a more creative environment, better curriculum design, and time to develop resources, ideas and means of experimentation. Recent research indicates that not all students learn the same way, and that for some, the right side of the brain with its aesthetic and creative powers plays a dominant role in the learning process.
School Affiliations:
The Franciscan Cre-Act School is registered with the State of Idaho Department of Education and is recognized in Idaho as an Accredited Private School.
Equal Opportunity Policy:
The Franciscan Cre-Act School admits students of any race, color, religion, and national or ethnic origin. It extends all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to all students. Cre-Act does not discriminate in administration of its educational policies, scholarship and other school administered programs.