STARRR treatment

Miller Photography

Tony-nominated Broadway actor John Herrera gets his students focused before rehearsal of “The Gingerbread Man Takes Manhattan” at PS 112, East Harlem.

Miller Photography

Professional musician Janet Lucy (in front of class) works on violin technique at a Saturday program at IS 98 in the Bronx.

Miller Photography

Charles Mandracchia (second from right) brings his professional performing, graphic and video arts skills to his bustling graphic arts classroom at MS 326, Manhattan.

Second-graders at PS 112 in East Harlem are in recital for “The Gingerbread Man Takes Manhattan,” and at PS 316 in Prospect Heights the students are performing “Romeo and Juliet,” both under the direction of Tony-nominated Broadway actor John Herrera.

At MS 326 in Manhattan, students keep winning prizes for their extraordinary yearbooks created under the tutelage of Charles Mandracchia, director, performer, composer and member of the original casts of “South Pacific” and “Porgy and Bess.”

Professional violist and violinist Janet Lucy brings her musical talents to both the Bronx classrooms of PS 396 and the Saturday music program at IS 98, where she teaches violin.

These performing artists, along with other professionals in drama, dance, music and the scenic arts, are members of STARRR (Substitute Teachers for the Arts and the three Rs) who carry two union cards as members of both the UFT and Actors’ Equity or another performers’ union.

While New Yorkers are not surprised to discover that an office temp or the waitress serving them is really an aspiring performer, not many know of the Actors’ Work Program — the employment and training arm of the Actors’ Fund — which helps professional performers find meaningful sidelines to supplement their incomes.

Kathy Schrier, the director of the Actors’ Work Program, points out that teaching “isn’t for everybody. You need to get the right people.” Once she finds those people, she works closely with UFT Special Representative Ann Rosen, the director of certification services, to bring them and their talents into schools.

In 2003, UFT retiree Howard Katzoff, a former arts coordinator in the Bronx’s District 8 whose role was to integrate visual and performing arts into language arts instruction, realized that the shortage of substitute teachers and the great pool of professional talent in the city would be a perfect fit. Working with the Actors’ Work Program, he helped establish the STARRR program in collaboration with the UFT and the Department of Education. Today it is successfully using talent as a teaching tool in 14 schools at all grade levels, the only program of its kind in the country.

Some participants, like Mandracchia, have gone on to become full-time, licensed teachers while still keeping a toe in the professional pool. Mandracchia recently starred in his own show, “Hush the Musical,” at the New York City International Fringe Festival last summer while continuing to star in the classroom — winning the 2009-2010 UFT Career and Technical Education Award for Outstanding Teacher.

The Broadway actor Herrera, by contrast, plans to take a short leave from his per-diem job after landing the lead in the Orlando Shakespeare Festival production of “Red,” a Tony Award-winning play about the painter Mark Rothko.

STARRR members do not simply walk over from the Broadway stage or Carnegie Hall into a classroom. First, they must have a bachelor’s degree and pass an audition — to evaluate their ability to relate to students — and, in order to earn their Occasional Per Diem (OPD) license, they must undergo weeks of intensive training that includes classroom management and lesson planning and then pass the liberal arts and science test.

Katzoff trains and mentors the would-be teachers, and Rosen helps them through the licensing process.

Everybody comes out a winner.

Mandracchia brought his performing, graphic and video arts skills to MS 326 — once on the state’s list of failing schools, but now thriving — where he found the kids took to his graphic arts classes “like peanut butter to jelly.” His students went on to win awards, got into performing arts high schools with creative portfolios and even won full scholarships to college.

Lucy found her violin a good starting point to get kids to listen. “I think the public schools are particularly hungry for the arts right now, especially the ones with principals who place a real value on them,” she said.

STARRR members have regular assignments at schools — most commonly two days a week that often turn into more and sometimes become full-time — where they may use their own lessons or work with teachers. Their goal is to invigorate literacy and other academic skills through the performing arts.

A new cohort of 17 artists is now in training to become future STARRRs. They will join the 10 now actively subbing with four others working full-time as certified teachers.

To find out more about the program and how to bring a professional artist into your school, send an email to kschrier@actorsfund.org.