Chronicles of a City Chap: Making a Difference
I will first start by saying that I cannot remember ever thinking that I am bored here. I do find myself thinking and saying, on occasion, am I going to get a taste of Me Time so I don't hurt anyone. I have not been arrested and I have yet to curse out anybody...so...I reckon I have found, if only for mere minutes, some Me Time.
So what have I been doing? I have just been allowing this experience to continue to wash over me and figuratively cleanse me. We have been to many schools and we have met a LOT of young people. Most of these kids, as you should suspect, are in rural areas where the only people of color they will see will be myself and another actress in my company. I was initially apprehensive about going into these school and truth be told I still am at times. I have no physical fear of these kids but I do get emotional anxiety at times wondering how much experience they have with diversity and how that will affect my classes. As most of us learned in social pysch., alot of prejudices that youth dramatize is learnt behavior. This anxiety that creeps up in me at times [and I must make it clear that these feelings are not constant but a reality nonetheless] is also do the environmental and societal "rules" that I follow, fight or support. Against my initial judgments I have been showered with a wall of support from faculty and students. Just to give you a highlight of the work we have been doing I shall recap a few experiences.
I know I said from my previous blog how I love the 9th graders but WOW did a group of 7th graders just turn my world around. These students were so engaging, provocative and just hungry for knowledge that I could have taught all day....well actually I did. Usually when we work with the older HS students it takes some times to get them to answer questions or to even raise their hands to participate. Much of this is do to the "cool factor"--they think they are too cool to do anything but exist. Now my 7th/8th graders were so involved that I could not contain myself. Their energy gave me energy and we just connected. I had a funny 9th grade girl insist on making me realize that I look 19 years old and that I should tell people that I am 19. I told her that is fine by me. So from now on when people ask you my age you tell me 19!
And just when you think you are NOT getting through to a group of older students I had a Senior stop me after one class and ask me what I thought she should do because her friend wanted to take an illegal drug. I won't go into the conversation because it was lengthy but I did encourage her to speak up/stand up to her friend and to get the necessary help if she did not feel the friend was going to listen. That was the 1st time that a student felt comfortable enough to let me into their lives and to really seek me out. I am starting to understand the power of our work.
We also had the pleasure of performing at a Children's Home. Most of the kids live their because their parents could not take care of them and/or they have a personal history with substance abuse. I know one of the actor's had a student in his class who admitted to having a Cocaine addiction when he was 13--they boy is only 15 years old now. I had a boy in one of my classes admit to me that his aunt and other people in his family were addicted to meth and how they are going to keep doing it and won't stop until they get caught. I mean this boy could not have been more than 13 years old and most of the issues that we present were common to him. He knew people who did meth, he knows what can happen in meth labs and all the consequences of meth abuse. The pain in this boy's voice just broke my heart and all the while he is talking to me I cannot help but feel helpless. It took alot of energy to not break down.
On a bit of a lighter note I have been finding balance with my work, social and professional lives. I am still hanging out with my core group of people and we now are known as "the fam" (as in family). Not only have we been socializing but we also look out for each other and isn't that what friendship is supposed to be about? Since my weeks are getting heavier with travels I have found my place within my company. In all honesty I have found where I want the people in my company's place to be in my life. I went to this amusement park called ValleyScare with 2 other company members and we had a blast! It was just a fun late afternoon/evening of fun and scare. We went through 6 Haunted Houses and we're freaked out by all of them and screamed our asses off for 3 hours. It was great!!! I have also signed on to do a holiday play at CLIMB called "The Elves and The Shoemaker" I am The Shoemaker and this is going to be SO MUCH FUN. We are going perform this play for lil kids and they get to help be elves and assist me in making lots of imaginary shoes for The Queen in the play. Me involving myself in this show will do 2 things: 1st it will give me a break from Meth. And 2nd it gives me an opportunity to work with some other people at CLIMB.
As all can read I am doing great. I do miss my friends and family so don't any of you ever forget that. I do love hearing from all of you as well. So drop me an email, text or vmail and let me know what is up. You know I always respond with intentions of it being sooner than later.
Passionately Yours ~ Keone The Kid
21 October 2007
06 October 2007
Installment Tre
Chronicles of a City Chap: Still Standing
Today marks the completion of 2 of the most intense weeks I have had in a VERY long time. The week of 24 Settembre was my final week of training. We were trained in teaching/facilitating post performance classes. Teach training was the first time that I thought, "this is too much and not enough time." Everyday was filled with paper, schedules, scripts, lesson plans, activities, role-playing, mini-seminar type speeches and the list really does go on. I started to think, "what have I gotten myself into?" I was not questioning my innate abilities, but I was unsure about CLIMB's expectations of us as we only had a few days of training. I went into Teach Training thinking that 28 HRS was obscene for a 40 mins class. After the first day I started to think that we did NOT have enough time. I, being the perfectionist/detail oriented person that I am, started to find flaws in the structure of the class. I realized that I was not the only person who felt this way. We all spent too much time getting documentation about Class Management, Simple Rules, Liability forms, and Demographic/Ethic Forms so, consequently, less time was spent DOING/RUNNING our particular programs. Don't get me wrong, I believe that role-play is a great way to feel comfortable with hypothetical situations, but let's be real--we are Actors. We all don't have a problem speaking in from of people. And I would have benefited more of actually facilitating my actual lesson plan--than listening to "What To Do When...happens" or "How To Handle...situation". I learn through research, observation and finally applying what skills I know. We only got to run our lesson plans 1 time. Of course my lesson plan did not fail, but I did not live up to the expectations that I had for myself. 65% of that is because I could not synthesize all the information that was being thrown at me. Every document that was given to us was seen as something that needed to be incorporated into our classes. The other 35% of my 1st facilitating going array was due to the structure of our training. Many of us voiced our opinions and hopefully some changes will be made for the next season. Luckily, my 1st facilitation was done for my company and not for actual students.
I had to kick my own ass into high gear and just make decisions for myself. I also have an AMAZING company and we all support each other when need be and we figured out how to solve our teaching discrepancies.
I know the reason I was being so hard on myself with my lesson plan is because my subject matter is so important. You can't just 1/2-ass a class on Meth Prevention. We not only have the ability to change a persons life for the better, but if you go in and NOT know what you are talking about---you can give the wrong impression and leave a student worse off than when they came in. I have a big responsibility.....hrmmm...........I must say it again--responsibility. Those of you who have worked with youth or in an educational arena know exactly what I am talking about. So the reality of that responsibility started to set in and I wanted everything to be just right.
I am happy to report that my first class went extremely well and after a week of teaching I have a strong understanding of the lesson plan and now my new challenge is incorporating my skills to be age/grade appropriate. There is definitely a way in communicating with 9th graders that differs from Seniors. There is also a strong distinction in how each grade responds to you-- the person, the material and you the facilitator. I have been having a blast. So far my favorite grades to teach are 9th and 10th graders. Seniors are pretty cool, but the one 11th grade class I had just had too many other priorities. I spent most of my time doing classroom management and that was pretty cool, because respect is not always readily available. But when you give no other alternative--the results are quite remarkable. The 11th graders turned out to be an educational experience for me. There was definitely a few young men in that class who had delt with friends who were involved with Meth. I also had 9th graders speak openly about knowing family members who were suffering from the effects of a meth addiction.
On more of a lighter note my show is going well. This show takes quite a bit out of me physically and emotionally. By the end of the play our characters are so strung out on meth and our moods swing faster than the wind. I am loving performing almost daily. I am so glad that I disciplined myself into learning this show inside out because we have no time to think. Here is what one schedule looks like for me:
I rise no later than 5AM. I shower. I get dressed. Grab my suitcase and head off to CLIMB HQ to load the truck. Get to CLIMB and pack the truck with the valuables (sound machine, 10 stage lights, body mics, speakers and our road box) that we MUST always keep on our person. After we are packed we drive to the program site. Once on site we unload into the performance space and set-up. Set-up usually is completed 2 mins before show time which gives us just enough time to get in our costumes and then LIGHTS UP! After the show we have about 5 mins (and that is generous) to get to our 1st class to teach. Classes are either back-to-back or we have about 10 mins in between them and that is just enough time to walk to the next classroom. As soon as our last class is done we go back to the performance space and load up our set/costumes. We get in the van and drive to the hotel. Once at the hotel we unload the valuables that must go into our rooms with us along with our luggage. Before bed we complete our daily performance logs, discuss the schedule for the next day and we sleep. Wake-up calls are heard no later than 5AM and we do it all over again in a different city.
Everyday is unique unto itself. There is always a new challenge as we change schools. Our load-in time is supposed to be 35mins at most and then have no more than 25mins to set-up and start the show. Well our first day out our load-in was about 45mins or so and we had no time to do mic check and before I knew it I was saying my first line in the play. It almost felt like when you have an old favorite song that you probably have not heard in years, but as soon as the music starts to play you know every lyric without fail. That is what I meant by no time to think. We are in the moment and we let the magic happen.
A few other interesting things happened during the week. Our 2nd hotel stay did not have an elevator and we were on the 2nd floor. Now you may wonder why this would cause a bit of distress. Well, remember the valuables that we must take out of the van with us. Those "valuables" are to come in with us during performance time and stay in our rooms on hotel overnights. Well, the equipment is bulky, heavy and expensive. So we were going to carry it up the stairs which is a 4 person job but luckily the concierge was extremely nice (that Minnesota Nice again) and she let us lock the stuff in the laundry room. Of course we think, worst case scenario, of them wasting water on everything. Our worst fear did not come to fruition.
Another fun thing that happened was one day we got to perform on an actual stage. Usually we are in gyms, auditoriums, or cafeterias. The space was state of the art with new everything. We had plenty of time to load-in, set-up and we even had about 5 mins to actual breath a bit. Funny how when things seems to go TOO perfect some obstacle comes crashing down like a game of tetris gone bad. Just as we took the house lights down and went to bring up the bedroom lights we had blown a fuse. In all the places to blow a fuse; we blow it in a brand new theatre. To top it all off the custodian assured us that their system could handle our 10 lights and sound/projection system and he failed to tell us where the fuse box was located AND just when you think it could not get any more funny---he had split. He was no where on-site (which is against the policy that we set for each programming site) So we had to perform the whole show in house lights with only music to show the change in scenes. The ironic part was that this was our most cohesive show of the week. We really challenged ourselves to stay connected with our characters and the audience because we were exposed the whole time. The Assistant Priniciple actually was quite happy that we had a lighting failure. She got the feeling that the students might not been able to handle the darkness for an hour. So, as always, God works in mysterious ways.
I must conclude here because I am off to finish packing for tonight's trip. I return on Monday night and leave again Tuesday morning, I return Wed night and leave yet again Thurs morning, Ill come back Thurs night, depart Friday morning and finally rest in my bed Friday night. Saturday is a dark day (we also say the Theatre is Black; this means there is no show).
P*S* The shaving of the 'tache and goatee was not as traumatic as I thought. I am actually getting used to it and I have finally decided to let my hair grow. Well....I am going to let it grow as long as I can until I get fired :-P
Passionately Yours ~ Keone The Kid
Today marks the completion of 2 of the most intense weeks I have had in a VERY long time. The week of 24 Settembre was my final week of training. We were trained in teaching/facilitating post performance classes. Teach training was the first time that I thought, "this is too much and not enough time." Everyday was filled with paper, schedules, scripts, lesson plans, activities, role-playing, mini-seminar type speeches and the list really does go on. I started to think, "what have I gotten myself into?" I was not questioning my innate abilities, but I was unsure about CLIMB's expectations of us as we only had a few days of training. I went into Teach Training thinking that 28 HRS was obscene for a 40 mins class. After the first day I started to think that we did NOT have enough time. I, being the perfectionist/detail oriented person that I am, started to find flaws in the structure of the class. I realized that I was not the only person who felt this way. We all spent too much time getting documentation about Class Management, Simple Rules, Liability forms, and Demographic/Ethic Forms so, consequently, less time was spent DOING/RUNNING our particular programs. Don't get me wrong, I believe that role-play is a great way to feel comfortable with hypothetical situations, but let's be real--we are Actors. We all don't have a problem speaking in from of people. And I would have benefited more of actually facilitating my actual lesson plan--than listening to "What To Do When...happens" or "How To Handle...situation". I learn through research, observation and finally applying what skills I know. We only got to run our lesson plans 1 time. Of course my lesson plan did not fail, but I did not live up to the expectations that I had for myself. 65% of that is because I could not synthesize all the information that was being thrown at me. Every document that was given to us was seen as something that needed to be incorporated into our classes. The other 35% of my 1st facilitating going array was due to the structure of our training. Many of us voiced our opinions and hopefully some changes will be made for the next season. Luckily, my 1st facilitation was done for my company and not for actual students.
I had to kick my own ass into high gear and just make decisions for myself. I also have an AMAZING company and we all support each other when need be and we figured out how to solve our teaching discrepancies.
I know the reason I was being so hard on myself with my lesson plan is because my subject matter is so important. You can't just 1/2-ass a class on Meth Prevention. We not only have the ability to change a persons life for the better, but if you go in and NOT know what you are talking about---you can give the wrong impression and leave a student worse off than when they came in. I have a big responsibility.....hrmmm...........I must say it again--responsibility. Those of you who have worked with youth or in an educational arena know exactly what I am talking about. So the reality of that responsibility started to set in and I wanted everything to be just right.
I am happy to report that my first class went extremely well and after a week of teaching I have a strong understanding of the lesson plan and now my new challenge is incorporating my skills to be age/grade appropriate. There is definitely a way in communicating with 9th graders that differs from Seniors. There is also a strong distinction in how each grade responds to you-- the person, the material and you the facilitator. I have been having a blast. So far my favorite grades to teach are 9th and 10th graders. Seniors are pretty cool, but the one 11th grade class I had just had too many other priorities. I spent most of my time doing classroom management and that was pretty cool, because respect is not always readily available. But when you give no other alternative--the results are quite remarkable. The 11th graders turned out to be an educational experience for me. There was definitely a few young men in that class who had delt with friends who were involved with Meth. I also had 9th graders speak openly about knowing family members who were suffering from the effects of a meth addiction.
On more of a lighter note my show is going well. This show takes quite a bit out of me physically and emotionally. By the end of the play our characters are so strung out on meth and our moods swing faster than the wind. I am loving performing almost daily. I am so glad that I disciplined myself into learning this show inside out because we have no time to think. Here is what one schedule looks like for me:
I rise no later than 5AM. I shower. I get dressed. Grab my suitcase and head off to CLIMB HQ to load the truck. Get to CLIMB and pack the truck with the valuables (sound machine, 10 stage lights, body mics, speakers and our road box) that we MUST always keep on our person. After we are packed we drive to the program site. Once on site we unload into the performance space and set-up. Set-up usually is completed 2 mins before show time which gives us just enough time to get in our costumes and then LIGHTS UP! After the show we have about 5 mins (and that is generous) to get to our 1st class to teach. Classes are either back-to-back or we have about 10 mins in between them and that is just enough time to walk to the next classroom. As soon as our last class is done we go back to the performance space and load up our set/costumes. We get in the van and drive to the hotel. Once at the hotel we unload the valuables that must go into our rooms with us along with our luggage. Before bed we complete our daily performance logs, discuss the schedule for the next day and we sleep. Wake-up calls are heard no later than 5AM and we do it all over again in a different city.
Everyday is unique unto itself. There is always a new challenge as we change schools. Our load-in time is supposed to be 35mins at most and then have no more than 25mins to set-up and start the show. Well our first day out our load-in was about 45mins or so and we had no time to do mic check and before I knew it I was saying my first line in the play. It almost felt like when you have an old favorite song that you probably have not heard in years, but as soon as the music starts to play you know every lyric without fail. That is what I meant by no time to think. We are in the moment and we let the magic happen.
A few other interesting things happened during the week. Our 2nd hotel stay did not have an elevator and we were on the 2nd floor. Now you may wonder why this would cause a bit of distress. Well, remember the valuables that we must take out of the van with us. Those "valuables" are to come in with us during performance time and stay in our rooms on hotel overnights. Well, the equipment is bulky, heavy and expensive. So we were going to carry it up the stairs which is a 4 person job but luckily the concierge was extremely nice (that Minnesota Nice again) and she let us lock the stuff in the laundry room. Of course we think, worst case scenario, of them wasting water on everything. Our worst fear did not come to fruition.
Another fun thing that happened was one day we got to perform on an actual stage. Usually we are in gyms, auditoriums, or cafeterias. The space was state of the art with new everything. We had plenty of time to load-in, set-up and we even had about 5 mins to actual breath a bit. Funny how when things seems to go TOO perfect some obstacle comes crashing down like a game of tetris gone bad. Just as we took the house lights down and went to bring up the bedroom lights we had blown a fuse. In all the places to blow a fuse; we blow it in a brand new theatre. To top it all off the custodian assured us that their system could handle our 10 lights and sound/projection system and he failed to tell us where the fuse box was located AND just when you think it could not get any more funny---he had split. He was no where on-site (which is against the policy that we set for each programming site) So we had to perform the whole show in house lights with only music to show the change in scenes. The ironic part was that this was our most cohesive show of the week. We really challenged ourselves to stay connected with our characters and the audience because we were exposed the whole time. The Assistant Priniciple actually was quite happy that we had a lighting failure. She got the feeling that the students might not been able to handle the darkness for an hour. So, as always, God works in mysterious ways.
I must conclude here because I am off to finish packing for tonight's trip. I return on Monday night and leave again Tuesday morning, I return Wed night and leave yet again Thurs morning, Ill come back Thurs night, depart Friday morning and finally rest in my bed Friday night. Saturday is a dark day (we also say the Theatre is Black; this means there is no show).
P*S* The shaving of the 'tache and goatee was not as traumatic as I thought. I am actually getting used to it and I have finally decided to let my hair grow. Well....I am going to let it grow as long as I can until I get fired :-P
Passionately Yours ~ Keone The Kid
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