The way classes work at GW is that we create the schedule based on what the students need as far as credits. For the last few years they have offered a theater class in the 4th quarter for those kids that are fairly well caught up on English and Math credits. It's one of the few elective classes we do and probably the only fine art.
All of the Gateway houses are currently full plus we have a couple day treatment students so with 30+ kids in our school, Kristin and I had the luxury of choosing which students we wanted in our class/play. We chose kids based on their behavior, academics, and need for credits. I think we really were blessed with this bunch of kids and they were all a lot of fun to direct.
The play we chose was called "My Fair Limey." It's a spoof of "My Fair Lady" in that it is about a British gentleman who moves to a small Western town and no one can understand a word he's saying. He speaks with a large vocabulary and is always quoting Shakespeare. A sharpshootin' spunky gal named Dixie makes a bet that she can "learn this feller how to talk right" and in the process of making him something that he ain't she realizes she liked him best the way he was. :) Super fun story!
For the last 9 weeks, theater class consisted of acting exercises/activities teaching these kids about diction, projecting their voices, and using emotion when they say their lines. Once after school practices started I was at school from 7:30am to 5:30pm teaching, planning, and directing kids who had never done anything like a play before. At first I was shocked by how acting did not come naturally or easily for the kids. By last night I was blown away by how much they had all grown and opened up in the 9 weeks that we'd worked with them. There were times when I was frustrated with some of the kids' struggles with being natural on stage or their flat affect when saying their lines but last night as I looked around the audience at their families and saw how proud they were to see their children on stage I realized how it didn't matter if they were the greatest actors or if the audience could understand what they were saying. The triumph was that they accomplished something big.
All of these kids come from backgrounds that I can never relate to, filled with drugs, sex, gangs, abuse, teen motherhood, and various other social and emotional issues. Most were passed around from home to home, school to school, lockup facility to treatment center. The likelihood of any of them sticking with something long enough to see it through to the end was slim. In their past if something was too difficult they gave up or didn't even try. Never in their lives would they have imagined being a part of something like this. Most of their families have never seen their kids in this light before. I hope, after last night, that they all feel amazed at what they accomplished, of what they discovered they are able to do especially when they thought it was too hard or made them look "ridiculous". Some of the kids rarely feel proud of themselves but I hope that they never forget the excitement and feelings of accomplishment that I know they all experienced through being in the play. Last night may be the first and last time any of them do anything like that. Some might end up back in their old circles or destructive habits but I could see joy in their faces and the faces of their families and for that reason, all of the hours and stress of directing a bunch of challenging teenagers were worth it :)
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