About the Author: Mr. Jonas Basom

"The Drama King" – Los Angeles Times

Jonas Basom is an accomplished educator, artist, consultant, and author. He is an international consultant and presenter in arts and literacy for schools, organizations, and education conferences. His hands-on trainings empower teachers to use drama pedagogy to create an optimal learning environment for all subjects and ages. He is the author and creator of The Drama Game File and the Drama Works! Teaching System, curriculum programs used at schools and universities worldwide. As president and founder of Drama Education Network, Jonas has trained thousands of educators and schools since 1999.

As an artist, Jonas grew up in Seattle, where he received world-class training and professional experiences in the performing arts. He developed his craft from the age of ten at Seattle Children’s Theatre and later at Roosevelt High School, a national top-ten theatre program. His professional credits include dozens of productions for stage, film, television, and radio. His performing skills include acting, pantomime, puppetry, tap dance, clowning, singing, improvisation, and voice-over work.

As a teacher, Jonas has worked with students from preschool to college in both private and public schools since 1993. He is the winner of the Bravo Award for Outstanding Arts Specialist of Southern California. For 7 years, he created and managed the Drama Program (PreK-8) for the prestigious Buckley School in Los Angeles. For 9 years, he taught as a traveling theatre teacher (K-6) for the Los Angeles Unified School District, training teachers in standards-based arts integration methods. As program director for The Media Workshops, Jonas organized and taught hundreds of high school and college students from around the country in summer seminars at UCLA. He received his BA in English and French from Amherst College, and his MA in Education with Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Pepperdine University.

Jonas is an adjunct professor who instructs current and future teachers how to integrate drama and the arts in the classroom. He currently teaches arts education courses for teachers at Pepperdine University and the University of Phoenix. He has also taught at California State LA and Glendale Community College.

Jonas lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Susan, who teaches music, and their two children, Luke and Grace.

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