“Spirit Series Is a Haven for Students in a Social-Media-Obsessed World”

We are honored to be featured in Backstage, the long-running publication covering theater, film, television, and the performing arts.

In a profile by journalist Jason Clark, SPIRIT SERIES founders Richard and Leslie Strauss discuss the origins of the SERIES, its distinctive approach to arts-integrated education, and the power of storytelling to help young people build confidence, empathy, literacy, and self-awareness.

The article explores how every student participates—regardless of acting experience, learning differences, language challenges, or social anxiety—and how students often surprise themselves by rising to roles they never imagined they could take on.

As Richard explains in the interview, the goal has always gone deeper than theater itself: rather than simply telling young people what values matter, SPIRIT SERIES gives them compelling stories through which they can discover those values for themselves.

Read the full Backstage profile: “Spirit Series Is a Haven for Students in a Social-Media-Obsessed World.”