CLIMB Theatre to Participate in Chaska’s Nationally Recognized Bullying Prevention and Intervention Town Hall, “Examining Bullying in Our Community”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chaska, Minnesota, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 27, 2012 -- Chaska, MN; February 4, 2012 – CLIMB Theatre and the Chaska Public Safety Focus Group are bringing CLIMB’s acclaimed programming on bullying prevention to Chaska on February 4th, 2012. Professional actors will be performing scenes depicting various types of bullying — including school, GLBT, and cyber-bullying – initiating a community dialog on bullying awareness and prevention.

The Chaska Town Hall, “Examining Bullying in Our Community” is a program designed to actively engage residents of Chaska and surrounding communities on ways to combat bullying in various settings. This program is designed to reach across all age groups demographics, and walks of life and provide attendees the tools and resources to combat this epidemic.

Last year’s first annual Town Hall on Bullying drew national attention through local and state media, as well as an invitation from the White House to Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight to attend the first national summit on bullying hosted by President Obama and the First Lady.

“Bullying targets, and often those who know that another person is the target of bullying, don't know what to do to get help. Our aim is to help the target, educate the community, and ultimately aline resources to help the bully, too.” says Chief Knight, of the Chaska Police Department. “The power of these efforts is in the synergy of all the partners and attendees who have anti-bullying strategies as a common goal, which in turn this makes us all safer and healthier.”

“Our programs reached almost 200,000 students last year,” reports Peg Wetli, founder of CLIMB. “Now in our 37th year of production, I believe the quality of our programming is the best it’s ever been.”

Teaching Company Director Julie Janus states, “Last season was a tremendous success. Not only did we reach a lot of children, we found new ways of serving schools that were looking for everything from basic Bullying Prevention classes to an in-depth exploration of the concept of social justice in an educational setting. Interactive theatre provides a unique opportunity to harness the power of imagination and enact real change in people’s lives.”

CLIMB is Creative Learning Ideas for Mind and Body
For 36 years, CLIMB Theatre has brought quality character education programming into schools and other educational settings. Its mission is to create and perform plays, classes and other works that inspire and propel young people toward actions that benefit themselves, each other, and the community. CLIMB's programming is available in a variety of formats, including plays, interactive classroom activities, and professional development workshops for students and administrators.

The City of Chaska has been named the 8th best city in the United States in 2007 and the 20th best in 2009 by MONEY magazine. Chaska, whose motto is “The Best Small Town in America,” plays host to annual events including River City Days, as well as major international professional and amateur golf events. The Chaska Police department has received multiple state and local recognitions through initial inception of the Social Host ordinance, and active engagement within the community.

For more information about CLIMB, visit http://www.climb.org. CLIMB is funded in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature from the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.

This project was funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota’s Art and Cultural Heritage Fund.

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