How Improv Can Help Students: Inside a Pioneering Philadelphia Program That’s Boosting Teens’ Communication Skills
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On a Tuesday morning in March, Sloan Williams, a 14-year-old student, along with her friends, engages in humorous banter over Zoom. Amidst the laughter, they playfully create the concept of a "Banana Car Seat." This lighthearted activity is part of The Unscripted Project, an initiative developed by Meera Menon and Philip Chen, recent Wharton graduates. The main objective of this program is to enhance students’ communication abilities, self-assurance, and collaborative skills.
According to Menon, improvisation has been proven to offer various advantages. Each improvisation game targets specific skills that students can practice. Their focus lies on mistakes, aiming to alter individuals’ perspectives towards failure.
Williams attests that the program has helped her step outside her comfort zone and has empowered her to speak up more confidently in class. Her experience is not unique, as 88% of the 146 participants in The Unscripted Project’s fall semester reported feeling more self-assured in front of their peers compared to before the program. Pre- and post-program surveys also revealed a 15% decrease in the number of students showing signs of social anxiety.
Furthermore, students’ social self-efficacy, or their understanding of interpersonal relationships, increased among 65% of participants. Emotional self-efficacy, referring to students’ comprehension of their own emotions, improved for 58% of students. The benefits of improvisation are so well-established that Wharton now offers improv classes for business executives, graduate students, and MBA students.
These positive outcomes played a significant role in Menon and Chen being awarded the President’s Engagement Prize by Penn president Amy Gutmann in April 2020. This prestigious recognition came with a $100,000 grant, enabling them to implement and expand their idea to impact over 300 middle and high school students within the School District of Philadelphia.
Menon emphasizes the importance of incorporating theater and improv into K-12 education, as they serve as powerful tools for developing interpersonal skills, social-emotional competence, confidence, adaptability, and understanding diverse perspectives. This belief motivated Menon and Chen to pursue their initiative.
Originally planning to launch in-person, the pandemic compelled them, like many others, to adapt their program to a virtual format. Since its launch in the fall, the program has reached 359 students, with the assistance of five teaching artists, 10 volunteers, and Menon and Chen themselves. Through Zoom sessions lasting between 45 and 90 minutes, once a week, they have collaborated with nine public schools in Philadelphia and one charter school.
While numerous programs in Philadelphia already utilize art forms like music, poetry, writing, and visual arts to support and nurture young individuals, Menon and Chen were drawn to improv as a non-traditional form of performance art for empowerment.
Chen, hailing from Melbourne, Australia, and Menon, originally from the Bay Area in California, first crossed paths on their first day at Wharton. They were assigned to the same group for a freshman scavenger hunt and have been friends ever since. As both had a background in theater arts and improv, they remained involved in theater during their time at Penn.
During their sophomore year, at a meeting of the Penn Social Entrepreneurship Movement Club, they conceived the idea for The Unscripted Project. They saw it as the ideal fusion of their two passions: business and theater. However, it wasn’t until their senior year that they transformed this idea into a concrete plan and decided to apply for the President’s Engagement Prize.
Menon explains that they seized the opportunity to make their idea a reality by leveraging the President’s Engagement Prize. Throughout their senior year, they worked diligently to refine the concept, establish vital partnerships, develop infrastructure, and create proposals. The news of winning the prize arrived in April, and shortly after, they dedicated themselves full-time to the project.
According to Menon, in improv, nothing is considered a mistake but rather a gift that can be used in any way one desires. Menon explains that improv is centered around imperfection and encourages individuals to step out of their comfort zones in order to improve their communication and community skills. The program specifically focuses on changing people’s perspective on failure and promoting the idea of a growth mindset, popularized by Angela Duckworth, where failures are seen as opportunities for growth and self-improvement.
Improv also teaches individuals how to work collaboratively as part of a team, a skill that is crucial for success in high school, college, and the workforce. One of the fundamental principles of improv is the phrase "Yes, and…", which encourages teammates to adapt and build upon each other’s ideas in the moment.
For instance, if someone offers a chocolate cake and another person immediately denies it, further conversation is halted. However, if the response is "Yes, but I prefer vanilla cake," it shows openness to dialogue and creates a platform to build upon the initial moment and create something greater.
In addition to the documented data, Menon and Chen have been incredibly encouraged by the anecdotal evidence of the program’s benefits. Introverted students have felt more at ease in group settings, and one particular student’s stutter disappeared during improv exercises.
Menon recalls the magical moment when they noticed that the student’s stutter would vanish during improvisation, but reappear during introductions or prepared activities. While there may not be scientific proof for this phenomenon, Menon describes it as a fascinating experience to witness.
Looking ahead, Menon recognizes the limitations of running the program virtually, especially after a year of online learning. Some students may not be present at their computers during scheduled sessions, while others have household responsibilities or part-time jobs to attend to. Keeping equity in mind, the staff strives to foster flexibility by adapting games to different formats such as chat instead of audio or video, in order to accommodate students’ capabilities and capacities.
Equity remains a top concern for the program, and efforts are made to ensure that all students have opportunities to participate, regardless of their access to technology. While this has been a challenging aspect to manage, the team is determined to do their best with the available resources and continuously invite new students into the program.
The nonprofit, supported by the President’s Engagement Prize, will be funded until mid-2021, and Menon and Chen are already seeking continuous funding to sustain the program. Their projected yearly budget is $150,000, and they recently held a fundraising event that raised $25,000. They are exploring the possibility of offering programming for a fee to private schools and organizations, in order to offset the costs for public schools. Having obtained nonprofit 501c3 status in October 2020, they are also actively seeking additional sources of funding to expand their reach to schools in Philadelphia and beyond. Their goal is to be present in 20 to 25 public school classrooms by the fall.
Reflecting on her experience in the program, Williams recommends it to other students, noting that her favorite aspect was the opportunity to create scenes and bring the audience into an imagined world. She believes that the program has helped her become more open and communicative, and she believes that many other students could benefit from it as well.
According to Menon, anyone can benefit from the power of improv.
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