Tara Rynders

I think gathering a team of volunteers that come alongside me and keep this program going is probably my greatest achievement, though I can't take full credit because you have to completely rely on each other, especially in a volunteer situation. What I'm really good at is encouraging my fellow volunteers so they know they're appreciated. That's the number one thing - when you do a volunteer event, even at the basic level, if you don't feel valued during that time and you know you're giving of your time, you may not come back or you may have a very negative view of that program. I'm really good at being encouraging and pulling out people's skills so they can feel completely accomplished within whatever task I'm asking them to do. If we find they're not so good at certain things, we try to delegate differently and give them space to come to us in any circumstance. Since we're volunteers, you just have to be flexible all the time. The key thing is making sure everybody feels appreciated, that their skills are used in the right way, and that everybody gets gratification for the work they do there.

The best advice I've received is to remember to take time to listen and not react right away. When you're dealing with 50 kids coming from up to 20 different schools - some from Christian schools, some homeschooled, some from public schools - they interact very differently with each other. If an incident arises or there seems to be hurt feelings, you really have to step into the situation facts first, and then massage feelings later if it's appropriate. You let them know they're in a safe situation, they can tell you just the facts of what happened, and we will evaluate the situation from there. Integrity is very important to me and my leadership, so we have a very thought-out behavioral contract and list of expectations for parents, volunteers, and students. As director, you have to be the bad guy sometimes and make harder decisions, even with your artistic team or volunteers that don't mesh with your program. It's just taking the time to get all the facts before you react to something. I have very strong leaders in my life that show me how to do that every day and are there as sounding boards when I have a question on something.

I would say, know what your mission is. Be very secure in what you are trying to accomplish and surround yourself with people that understand that and are positive. You don't want to set a mission that's overcomplicated - it has to be very simple and easy for people to understand so they understand what they're getting into. I can tell you, when we were redoing our mission statement, we looked at other places and they were so convoluted and very poetic and things like that. I was like, you know what, that just doesn't tell me enough about that place, doesn't tell me what their purpose is for being together and doing any of this. So I would say your mission really has to be very straightforward and thoughtful.

I think challenges and opportunities are very much the same thing. When we came out of COVID, we were given a lot of kids that were used to just looking at computer screens. As you know with theater, you're on a stage, you're moving your body, you're reacting to the people around you, and you're feeding off of each other's energy. The biggest challenge we had was these kids were no longer having one-on-one conversations with adults - they were very much just talking to their friends or a computer, and they couldn't look you in the eye and carry on a couple-minute conversation. We've worked through that, and it's surprising to me how long it's been since COVID that we are still dealing with that detachment that the kids have from human interaction. But being in one of our shows, they are put in situations where they have to figure it out because they're put in small groups and they have to engage with each other, and they grow and thrive in that situation. When we get a kid that is more standoffish, we don't force them into situations - we let them ease into it because we don't want to scare them away. If you've been at home for a very long time doing all your classes online and you have a family that's kind of hunkered down, even past COVID times because they're nervous about going back into society, you just want to really wrap your arms around that family and go, it's okay, we're gonna ease you into this situation. And those kids blossom - they have huge conversations with people and they're able to shine on stage in ways that their parents are absolutely just amazed at. I don't think there's a perfect curriculum that can get your kid there - you just have to give them the space to move in it at their own pace. And again, setting the expectations is really key for those kids.