Wendy Rojas, Educational Theatre

Published in ConnectED Newsletter - Volume 8 - Issue 1 - September 2024

Wendy Rojas has been an Adjunct Professor of Educational Theatre since 2018. She was born and raised in Washington Heights and attended NYC public schools. She earned her undergraduate degree from Hunter College and her M.S.Ed. in educational theatre from The City College of New York. She was the recipient of the Howard Wexler Award in 2014. In June 2024, she completed a second master’s degree in school counseling from Alfred University.

For the past ten years, Prof. Rojas has been teaching theatre and dance at the Don Pedro Albizu Campos School, where she developed a dance program and has directed the drama club's annual musical for the last nine years. “My career has focused on creating opportunities for marginalized communities, specifically students of color,” she asserts. Through Project P.A.V.E. (Profession, Artistry, Vision, Education), which she founded in 2021, she is dedicated to increasing representation in the arts and bridging the gap between BIPOC communities and the professional workforce in education. “My work has centered on designing programs like the V.I.P. [Voice, Integrity, and Power] elective and collaborating on school culture initiatives that nurture students’ social-emotional development,” she adds.

As someone who benefited immensely from a community-driven education, Prof. Rojas sees the training of pre-service teachers as an opportunity to reshape the narrative of diversity and inclusion in schools. “To be involved in this process means equipping future educators with the tools to reflect and represent their students’ lived experiences. My goal is to help future teachers understand that education is not only academic, but also cultural, emotional, and deeply personal, especially for students of color,” she argues.

Prof. Rojas feels a special connection with Fundamentals of Teaching Theatre, a course she took when she was a student at CCNY and that she has been teaching for several years. She says that “this course provides graduates with direct, hands-on experience working with schools, students, and theatrical productions. It’s a rewarding process because it allows students to gain real-world experience and make meaningful contributions to school communities while honing their teaching craft.”