Can We Brag a Little?

7 Accomplishments CPT HAS made in the past 7 years

1. Over the past 7 years Changing Perceptions has done amazing work for youth in schools and community organizations throughout NYC and Newark, NJ.

Parters and Funders Include:

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Harlem Commonwealth Council
Harlem Stage
The Dwyer Cultural Center
The Eagle Academy for Young Men (Harlem, Bronx, Newark, Brooklyn Campuses)
Children of Promise
Partnership With Children
New York Department of Youth & Community Development
New York Department of Education
Newark Arts Education Roundtable
Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COESBOC)
and many more...

2. Chirlane McCray, the First Lady of NYC loved our performance at the kick-off event for NYC Men’s Teach.

Students who participated in CPT’s Bros and Theater Mentoring program were selected to perform at the kick-off event for NYC Men’s Teach as a demonstration of “using the arts and culturally responsive teaching to develop a meaningful relationship with a mentor.” First Lady Chirlane McCray was amongst the full house that gave the performance a standing ovation.

Yes! These are actual students from schools across NYC that came to see one of CPT's youth productions. The show was created and performed by youth under the mentorship of CPT's Artistic Mentors.

3. Over 2500 young people have seen CPT's original youth productions.

Schools, libraries, and community organizations partner with Changing Perceptions Theater to teach youth how to create and perform theatrical works for their peers, families and and school environments. Over 2500 young people have seen CPT's original youth productions that inspire young people to change perceptions of themselves, their abilities and their communities

4. Check us out on NY1.

Click Here.

5. 86% of our parents enrolled their child in CPT’s Saturday Drama School because they are unsatisfied with the performing arts opportunities at their child’s school.

Changing Perceptions Theater (CPT) champions Common Core standards and utilizes its own Culturally Responsive Curriculum to promote Literacy Skills and concepts, inspire Social and Emotional Learning, and develop Leadership Competencies required for College and Career Readiness. CPT's Saturday Drama School is a fulfilling outlet for students who want to experience quality performing arts training and mentoring.

6. Only 9% of youth in CPT’S Saturday Drama School have gone to see a live theater show in the past year. CPT is changing that.

As a result, students in CPT's Saturday Dram School take exposure trips to culturally relative theater on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional and collegiate theaters. Our goal is to teach young people the different roles and career paths they can achieve in theater and how interest in theater can inspire different career paths outside the theater industry. We also want students to understand the theater as an art form and the economic responsibilities involved to achieve a winning production.

7. CPT Artistic Mentors are predominantly Black Men.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Black teachers are disappearing and only 2% of teachers in American public schools are Black men. Low-income Black students who have at least one black teacher in elementary school are significantly more likely to graduate high school and consider attending college, concludes a new study co-authored by a Johns Hopkins University economist. CPT Artistic Mentors build strong, thriving learning environments that build social emotional competencies of youth and produce completed quality projects.