How Acting Up Was Created
Acting Up was born during the pandemic and is the brainchild of a full-time radio personality with a successful career in the media industry for almost a decade. Additionally, I was also a licensed Drama Teacher with the TSPC, specializing in social-emotional learning, as well as having an extensive background in narrating children's audiobooks, over 30 years of community theater experience and more than ten years acting in the film industry.
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When the pandemic hit it created an urgent need to rise up and provide something meaningful and special to nurture the children in our local community. To address this pressing need Acting Up was created – a creative and unique way to combine my skill sets into one powerful asset that provides youth with education, inspiration and passion through performing arts while also teaching them social-emotional skills.
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What began as an idea stemming from uncertainty has quickly grown into an incredible success story. With innovative programming, Acting Up has become an integral part of many families’ lives providing them with educational quality time through workshops ranging from social-emotional learning to storytelling. In addition to providing youth with an exceptional After School Program, Acting Up has also been able to form powerful partnerships such as Coos Health & Wellness in order to offer youth access to the program that will help youth build confidence and develop healthy coping strategies.
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Through our innovative and handcrafted programming, Acting Up has been able to focus on empowering youth in relation to emotional intelligence, healthy communication skills, conflict resolution, and other valuable life lessons within performing arts – all which have assisted students to realize their true potential and gain personal confidence.
Through Acting Up, I have created an environment where students feel free to express themselves creatively while simultaneously developing important social-emotional skills such as empathy, self-awareness, communication and collaboration. My aim is to provide opportunities that inspire children beyond what they thought possible — something that encourages them take risks while embracing their unique potential.
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If there’s one thing the past few years have shown me it’s that creativity can be used as a powerful tool when facing difficult times – something I hope my classes will teach these students for years to come.
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Acting Up offers an enthusiastic, structured environment and culture where youth feel valued, included, and inspired.
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Desireé Glenn Gaoiran
Owner of Acting Up
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