The Children’s Bilingual Theater is a student lead theatrical and literacy outreach committed to bridging the language and cultural gaps in our community. We work to encourage confidence and promote public speaking skills in a bilingual setting. CBT brings both Spanish and English together to help our community to participate and engage in bilingual theatre and explore Latino culture, tradition and history. As a 5th grader, Jordan Schwartz launched the company in 2004 and has gone on to produce 4 other major shows and 4 theatrical storytelling and literacy events. Jordan, the Founder and Artistic Producer is now 16 and an 11th grader at Atlanta Girls’ School. She leads this student initiative as an effort to encourage our community to exemplify and teach tolerance through the theatre arts.

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Jordan Schwartz launched the theatre project in spring of 2004 with a Children’s Bilingual Theater tour of “The Song of the Oak/El canto del roble, by Roy Conboy. 17 students from 2nd graders to college age participated with the theatrical outreach, made possible with community donations and the support and mentoring of Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens. The company brought the first student bilingual production to Park Street, Sedalia Park, Brumby and Powers Ferry Elementary Schools. The production was directed by Miguel Zavala from Kennesaw State University. The Children’s Bilingual Theater celebrated a significant milestone when our 2007 production of “Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans” was filmed by a Wisconsin Public Television crew for the documentary series “Democracy it is”. Following those successes, the 2009 partnership with the Marietta Sixth Grade Academy brought a production of “Esperanza Rising” to the stage, funded by The Children’s Bilingual Theater through grants, individual donations and awards and further supported by a University of Georgia Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute lead community talk back on the thematic elements of the production.

CBT volunteers also serve as literacy advocates at Park Street Elementary, Cobb HeadStart and Sheltering Arms. CBT players have also performed at Fernbank Museum’s “Chocolate: The Exhibition”, the 2007 Cobb County and NAACP Martin Luther King Celebration, the Hemophiliacs of Georgia Camp Twin Lakes, the Atlanta History Center and at metro area schools. CBT is now 200 volunteers strong and has performed to over 5000 audience members and many school audiences.

In 2008 in an unprecedented move in selecting a 14 year old, the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities Organizing Institute chose our founder as one of five participants to train in organizing skills to return to her community to promote systems change around issues that affect people with disabilities.  Jordan, diagnosed with Turner’s syndrome at age 11, brought theatre and her personal challenge together in an original bilingual play for grades K-4.  “Mr. Ooba’s T.E.A.M.” addresses the issue of bullying of developmentally disabled and medically fragile children and diversity in our classrooms.