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Introducing The Barbara Kenyon Creativity & Bravery Scholarship

12/20/2019

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This year, for my birthday, I want to introduce you to someone.

Donate to the Barbara Kenyon Scholarship Here
The headline of a newspaper clipping reads
My penpal sent this to me.

​From the time I was old enough to write a letter, I had a dedicated penpal. 

She. was. the. coolest. 

She lived in San Diego, right near the ocean. She loved animals and science. She had beautiful, loopy cursive writing that was hard to read and made me squint and it danced with phrases like “your good newsy note,” “a wreath and my little tree,” and the shortened “tho’.”

She was my Great Aunt Barbara.

Aunt Barbara and I exchanged letters a few times a year. I sent her school photos and she sent me newspaper clippings about the pandas at The San Diego Zoo. When I began doing theatre in sixth grade, she started sending me clippings about acting, too: children’s theatre productions, the local professional theatre scene, and the struggles of union actors in the small San Diego market.

In the late 2000’s my Aunt Marji gave Great Aunt Barbara an “email machine,” but mostly Barbara and I continued to write. 

A handwritten letter that shows the story about the birthday skis transcribed below. (Compass Creative Dramatics - Barbara Kenyon Creativity & Bravery Scholarship)
One of Aunt Barbara's letters, remembering the birthday skis in her loopy cursive writing.

In her letters, she always told me how proud she was of the work I was doing in theatre and made sure I knew she enjoyed hearing from me. “I’ve just reread your letters from June on,” she wrote one December, “You write great letters!” 
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She never missed sending me a birthday card, always with a long “newsy” note, and often including a memory of my birthday in the early 1990s that we spent together. “I’ll always remember the year I was in Sheboygan for the big event, and you were getting your first skis. You had to get out and try them on right that moment. Such fun!”​

Cathlyn, probably 5 years old, wears a super-cool dress with polka-dotted suspenders. She is smiling as she opens a package of skis and ski poles. (Compass Creative Dramatics - Barbara Kenyon Creativity & Bravery Scholarship)
Cathlyn opens her skis. That's Auntie Barbara over on the right.

​In the letter that accompanied my 2010 birthday card, she noted that there would be a total lunar eclipse on my birthday—"quite a celebration!” 

She was quite a lady. 

When Aunt Barbara passed away in 2012, her generosity enabled me to begin Compass Creative Dramatics with Cassandra. Barbara's legacy has allowed us to serve thousands of children across the United States.

Aunt Barbara would have been so proud of the work we’ve accomplished. She valued education—she received her bachelor’s degree in 1939 when only 3 women out of 100 graduated from college, and she went on to get a teaching certificate, too.

She worked in Washington, DC throughout World War II. Later, after she had returned to California, she worked with two different school districts and then with underserved teens, assisting them with job placement. When that program ended in 1971, she again turned her attention to serving children: this time, by organizing an outpatient clinic for kids with serious diseases.

She was a fantastic lady. 

During her lifetime, she changed the world around her. I like to think that through her gift to me after her death, she continues to do so.

To that end, I’m honored to announce our official new scholarship:

The Barbara Kenyon Creativity & Bravery Scholarship

Throughout our time with Compass Creative Dramatics, we've made it a personal mission to not let any child's family finances get in the way of participating in theatre camp. Every summer, kids in Bedford, IN, Sheboygan County, WI, and Chicago attend camp for free because that's important to me and Cassandra. We want all kids to have the opportunity to stretch their creativity and bravery muscles through theatre if they want to.

Auntie Barbara would have wanted it that way, too.

I hope you’ll help support my Aunt Barbara’s dedication to children and education by making a pledge to help a child attend theatre camp.
Click here for donation details
  • $300 sends a child to camp for a week

  • $60 covers one day of a child's theatre camp

  • $20 sponsors their camp t-shirt, and
    ​
  • Any amount makes a difference
As I move on from Compass Creative Dramatics this month, my heart is warmed knowing that Aunt Barbara and I will both remain a part of the Compass family, continuing to stretch kids' creativity and bravery muscles, even from a distance.

Thank you.

With so much love for all of our Compass family, including you--
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Donate now
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New Year, New Announcements, New Team!

12/18/2019

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​Seven and a half years ago, Cassandra and I began imagining a traveling children’s theatre: we wrote a play, held table readings, met with knowledgeable colleagues who could advise us, and began laying the foundations for Compass Creative Dramatics.

The following summer, we hosted our first series of performance programs with students in Illinois, Indiana, and Chicago.

Fast forward to 2019, and we’ve held programs in 50+ communities in 18 states. We’ve served children and their families from Texas to Minnesota to Florida to Maine.

​I have been, and will always be, proud of the work that we have accomplished in just seven years. And today, I’m proud to move on and leave Compass Creative Dramatics in Cassandra’s hands. Cassandra’s passion, dedication, and perception will continue to drive the Compass Creative Dramatics team forward, as she has ably done for all of us over the last seven years. Compass Creative Dramatics and our relationships with our communities across the country will continue to flourish under her leadership.
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​​Because Cassandra and I both “wear many hats” at Compass, we’ve worked over the last twelve months to assemble the administrative team that will lead Compass Creative Dramatics into a new decade:
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  • Wyatt Kent, Artistic Director
  • AJ Morrison, Education Director
  • Sydney Ray, Assistant Education Director
  • Johanna Jackson-Whitman, Residency Coordinator
  • Audie Deinlein, Office Manager
  • Jill Matel, Finance Manager
  • Macy Hernandez, Social Media Manager
  • Sonia Goldberg, Sales and Marketing Coordinator
  • Emma Noelle Morton, Programs Associate
  • Chad Bay, Art Director
​And of course Cassandra Quinn, Executive Director and owner.

​Over the first few weeks of 2020, Macy will be introducing you to each of the team members. Keep your eyes on our blog and social media for interviews and photos! In the meantime, you can check out the team’s bios on our staff page.

And I might still show up here and there as a guest blogger or a substitute teacher. Who knows? ;)
​Friends, I’ve learned so much throughout my time with Compass—about running a business, about selling a service, about working with a team, and about myself. When Cassandra and I started Compass in 2012, I was 25 years old. Cassandra and I have, in a way, grown up with Compass. We’ve certainly both stretched our creativity and bravery muscles and are so much stronger than we were when we met in 2008. I’m so grateful for Cassandra’s friendship, patience, love, and leadership throughout our adventure. 

I’m officially hanging up my Compass hat today, but it’s my birthday on Friday and this year, for my birthday, I want you to meet someone. 

So hang tight--I’ll be posting one last time on Friday with an introduction I want to be sure you see.

After that, I’m onto the next adventure. (eek!)

I'll miss Compass and all of you! Meeting our students and their families has been an incredible joy over the last seven years. If you want to keep up with me, you can find me at www.instagram.com/borrowedcats

With love,
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