Thinking Outside the Box – Bringing Charleston Stage into South Carolina Classrooms

Charleston Stage’s Out of the Box initiative is transforming school-based education across South Carolina—bringing theater, creativity, and curriculum-aligned performance directly into classrooms. Its mission is simple yet powerful: to support student learning through arts‑integrated storytelling, movement, music, visual arts, and theatre. 
At Charleston Stage, we believe every classroom can be a stage—and every student can be a storyteller. Our Out of the Box program puts the power of theatre directly into the hands of classroom teachers, providing high-quality, curriculum-based arts experiences through easy-to-use teaching kits.
Designed with flexibility and creativity in mind, each Out of the Box kit includes lesson plans, scripts, video tutorials, and interactive activities that integrate theatre into subjects like history, language arts, financial literacy, and STEAM. These kits are tailored for K–8 classrooms and align with South Carolina state education standards, making it simple for teachers to incorporate the arts into everyday instruction—no previous theatre experience required.
Across the state, educators are using Out of the Box kits to bring academic content to life. Whether it’s exploring habitats through storytelling, learning about historical figures through dramatic reenactments, or reinforcing reading comprehension with performance-based activities, these kits transform passive learning into active engagement. Each unit includes everything a teacher needs to guide their students through a collaborative and creative learning journey.
The goal is not just to teach theatre—it’s to teach through theatre. By inviting students to act, move, create, and reflect, Out of the Box supports deeper understanding and helps build essential skills like empathy, communication, and teamwork. It also empowers teachers with new tools to reach a wide range of learners, especially those who thrive with hands-on or movement-based instruction.
Teachers across South Carolina have embraced these kits as a dynamic way to enhance their curriculum. The resources are designed to be plug-and-play, making it easy to adapt lessons to fit class schedules, subject areas, and student needs. Some schools use Out of the Box for enrichment or arts integration days, while others weave it into weekly classroom routines.
Charleston Stage is proud to support educators with resources that make learning fun, meaningful, and memorable. As we continue expanding access to Out of the Box kits throughout South Carolina, we remain committed to building creative confidence in students—and providing teachers with powerful tools to inspire the next generation of thinkers, leaders, and artists.
To learn more about how to bring Out of the Box into your school, visit our website!

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Author

Rylee Coppel (she/her/hers) is Charleston Stage's Director of Education and Engagement. Rylee is originally from Pennsylvania, but arrived in Charleston through New Jersey. Rylee has a Bachelor's in Vocal Performance from Ramapo College of NJ and a Master's in Integrated Arts and Education from the University of Montana, and over 15 years of experience teaching voice, music, theatre, and dance.