Florida drama teacher Jason Zembuch Young was honored yesterday at the 76th Annual Tony Awards when he garnered this year’s Excellence in Theatre Education Award. Photo credit: Broadway News
If you were watching the 76th Annual Tony Awards last night you may have noticed that a very special honor was given to drama teacher Jason Zembuch Young of South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida. He garnered this year’s Excellence in Theatre Education Award (EITEA)!
For much of his 20-year career as an educator, Jason has been a champion for providing inclusive theater programs, particularly for the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) community, which is quite large in his area. He certainly goes the extra mile to support both his DHH students and the audiences who come to watch them perform. Each year, Jason produces two full-length productions—one play and one musical—that are performed both vocally and in American Sign Language. To prepare for these productions, which often involve 150 or more students, Jason ensures that interpreters are available during and after school to teach his hearing and DHH actors and crew how to communicate and perform successfully. And he does this with a budget that is slim to none.
In addition, Jason provides enrichment opportunities during the summers. Using his high school students as counselors and mentors, he runs a six-week theater camp for elementary and middle school students. Furthermore, his high school students participate in International Thespian district and state competitions, and they have earned eight South Florida Cappie Theater Awards for Best Play or Musical during Jason’s tenure at South Plantation High School. And as if all that were not enough, the honored educator conducts fundraisers each year to provide four scholarships worth $1,000 to graduating seniors.
Not only does Jason support his students at school, but he and his partner, Michael, have generously provided a foster home to more than three dozen abused and underprivileged children. He has facilitated the adoption of many of those foster children, and he has even become an adoptive parent himself. And to enrich their lives, Jason offers free admission to foster families so they can attend his theater productions.
The Excellence in Theatre Education Award was established in 2014 by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University to give recognition to exemplary theater arts teachers and to nurture the arts in education. In addition to his stunning trophy, Jason will receive $10,000 for his South Plantation High School theater program, and he’ll receive tickets to attend this year’s Tony Awards and Gala. In addition, Jason’s students will attend a Master Class taught by a member of the Carnegie Mellon University faculty.
This year’s Tony Awards were held on Sun., June 11, 2023, at the United Palace Theater in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood.
