TETA Board of Directors
Vice President K-12
I am so excited to serve TETA as the VP of the K-12 Committee. It is an honor to work with fellow theatre educators who continue to be an inspiration me.
This year in Keller ISD, there’s been a huge anti-bullying initiative. A committee comprised of administrators, teachers, parents and students created several goals, ideas and slogans to jump-start this important enterprise. Every teacher in the district participated in a survey which decided the slogan: R.O.C.K (Reaching Out with Character and Kindness). From this, panel discussions and public forums have ensued; student-made videos have been produced, hoping to raise awareness of this growing problem. Here’s something interesting one of my school counselors told me; they also want to explore the short and long-term effects of bullying. How one incident that is considered “bullying” can lead to other acts, creating a very negative chain.
Have you ever been asked to write a skit (performed by your theatre students) for a school pep-rally? Most of the time, they want a funny, energetic, or just plain “zany” skit with weird costumes and props. My administrators and counselors asked if my advanced 8th graders would do “something” for our school pep-rally on the Friday of Red-Ribbon Week. They asked for a short 5-7 minute skit that would promote a “drug-free” or anti-bully theme. OK.
I brought this task to my 23 advanced Theatre Production (8th graders). What they created within a week was amazing, thought-provoking and from the heart. I was so proud of them. Not just because they were able to come up with something so fast, but because they took the challenge so seriously and the stories came out of personal experience. Due to bad acoustics in the gym, and only one mic for our group to share, they decided to perform a pantomime to music using 2 different songs. Here was the story:
Music:“How It Ends” by Devotchka. A dysfunctional family has an incident at home (Son/Daughter/Mom/Dad). Kids fighting over a remote, and mom has a fit because no one will help her with chores. Dad pushes son, then yells at Mom about bills. Dad hits Mom in front of kids. Dad storms out. Mom drinks and passes out. Son goes to school. (actors enter from the bleachers where they’ve been sitting this whole time) We pantomimed 3-4 events showing how one bullying incident can create a “chain” of events. This begins with the Son and a small group of friends teasing a girl about her hair. She then continues the “chain.” All freeze in tableau. Daughter finds mom passed out and finds the wine. She takes a sip and decides to hide wine in a water bottle to show her friends at school. This then creates a “chain” of events: Wine to school/cigarettes/prescription pills, etc. Cop enters, crosses center and yells “FREEZE” Music: “This is Your Life” by Switchfoot. All actors “melt” to floor except one student who decides to “break the chain” and stays standing. They then begin an “acts of kindness” chain: Helping someone who’s fallen, sitting with someone who is alone, picking up spilled books, small random acts etc. All actors form a line across the gym holding hands which leads back to the family center. Son and daughter hold a sign that reads “How Can I Help?” Son takes broom from mom and begins sweeping. Dad reenters and makes amends. Forgiveness. Understanding. Love. Hugs shared within the family. All bow and exit the gym still holding hands. Fade music.
The gym (890 students and 80+ faculty members) was absolutely silent except for a few sniffles. The applause was deafening. This experience made me realize what a compassionate group I have this year.
Doesn’t theatre innately teach compassion for others? What other field does this? We have the BEST job. As the great Oscar Wilde said, "I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." This is compassion. My students taught me so much from this experience. They are my “heroes”, every day.
Heroes. There are childhood teachers and colleagues that I can easily refer to as my heroes; Miss Marie Baglio, Mrs. Linda Switzer, Mrs. Jeri Smith, Mrs. Carla James, Mr. Gregg Gray, Dr. David Stevens and Mrs. Melissa McMillian-Cunningham, to name a few. As educators, there is a “hero” in all of us too. Several educators’ and their acts of extreme heroism have even made the news in the past year; Victoria Soto, the 27 year old 1st grade teacher from Newtown who was tragically killed while protecting her students from the gunman. Ryan Heber, the California high school science teacher, who talked a student into putting down his gun after several students had already been wounded, thus saving lives.
We might not make the evening news, but we are heroes to our students; every class period, every rehearsal, every show and every day. What would your students say is your “SuperPower”? Maybe it’s curriculum, directing, technical theatre, acting or theatre history. Maybe it’s just listening. I think we wear many “hats” and have many superpowers each day. This spring, I and the members of K-12 Committee, will work very hard utilizing all our strengths and SuperPowers to bring you one of the best SummerFest experiences ever. The theme is:
You are a Super Hero!
Come Engage Your Instructional Powers!
Come join hundreds of Texas theatre educators in Waco, Texas July 19-21, 2013 at Baylor University. Share your superpower while gaining strength and inspiration from others! The deadline for workshop proposals is April 15th. Register by June 1st for your free “Super Hero” t-shirt. All forms are available NOW on the TETA website.
As I learned from attending the Awards Reception at TheatreFest, “Thank You’s” are important. Thank you to my colleagues, my former teachers- my heroes. Thank you to those who trust me as I embark on this new journey as VP of the K-12 Committee. Have a wonderful spring and I hope to see everyone this summer!