Stillwater Schools Theater Coordinator Is Theater Educator Of The Year

STILLWATER, MN —Stillwater Area Public Schools Theatre Coordinator Grif Sadow is the winner of Spotlight Education's 2022 Theater Educator of the Year Award, Spotlight Education announced on Friday.

Sadow has worked in the district for seven years, serving as the producer and artistic director for Stillwater Area High School and Stillwater Community Theatre. He also creates implements and evaluates theater arts programming for early childhood, elementary and middle school populations in the district.

Sadow is the founder of Theatreferences, a theater arts consulting firm that has worked with generations of Minnesota students and several professional and community theaters. Plus, Sadow was the founding artistic director for the nonprofit theater company Ensemble Productions.

"To win this award after 35 years (in the business), is extra special because this group of young people and the creative team I get to work with is so talented and kind and hard-working and we really do love being and creating together every day," Sadow told Patch.

Sadow continued: "In theater, many times we are always looking toward the next production without stopping to celebrate the journey that got us here. So, this award has enabled me to take stock in all I have achieved as a theater director and educator and reconnect with all those former students, parents, staff, schools, arts organizations and communities that have shaped me personally and professionally."

Of course, it's unlikely that Sadow has experienced a period in his career more challenging than the last few years, when the pandemic forced students away from school and extracurricular activities, and audiences were kept from theaters or stayed away out of caution.

Sadow said the award has even more meaning coming on the heels of the pandemic.

"It does have more meaning for me personally and as a member of the theater industry," Sadow said. "We were a district that was able to keep going and we pulled through. It was an ever-changing couple of years and we created from situations we had never experienced.

"And this year I realized the importance of an audience and community presence even more. The in-person connection and energy you take for granted until it's not there. We also, as an industry, lost artists, lost theatres and yet we celebrate this year our strength, resilience and recovery."

Sadow also was quick to point out that although he was named Theater Educator of the Year, there are many people like him who are working hard to make sure that arts programs continue to survive and thrive in schools throughout Minnesota.

"Like theater, a Theatre Educator of the Year Award is subjective as there are so many deserving educators who are in those same trenches every day, giving up a lot to keep theater alive and well in their school and communities," Sadow said. "I share this award with the many colleagues and production teams who continue to create brilliant work and have a positive effect on young people every day, many of whom have supported me or have inspired me on my journey. "

According to its website, Spotlight Education, which hands out the Theater Educator of the Year Award, supplements and enhances arts curriculum through production assessments, masterclasses and community conversations, theater review writing and increasing equitable access to quality theater education.

The program is run by the Hennepin Theatre Trust.