McLaughlin High School
students love drama and drama loves them. For McLaughlin
students, drama gives them the opportunity to express
themselves like they have never been able to do before.
They learn to enjoy and have fun speaking in public
and to perform impromptu speeches in front of their
teacher and their other classmates. So when Candace
McKenzie, Language Arts and Drama teacher introduced
Out North to McLaughlin it was a match made in heaven.
Candace’s
desire was to provide opportunities for McLaughlin
students to make art a part of their lives. In the
meantime Out North agreed to provide professional
arts resources for the McLaughlin staff and most
of all provide opportunities for McLaughlin students
to attend performances and workshops presented by
artists that perform at Out North.
Out North acknowledges diversity in everything they
present. They are very generous by providing tickets
to their productions and artist workshops to our students.
The workshops are with dancers, singers, video artists
and actors of the highest caliber, from the Lower 48.
Many of our female students feel compelled to seek
revenge on anyone that they think is “talking
about them behind their backs”. “DRED Love
Experience” was a real awakening for students
who never learned to love themselves. MilDRED Gerestant,
a Haitian American gender-illusionist, left a powerful
impression with our female students when she said to
them: “Statements
made about you behind your back is not your business.” In
Mildred’s dance, poems and spoken words, McLaughlin
female students were made to understand the importance
of being who you are and loving yourself.
After each event the students are required to write
a reaction paper on that event. In March, McLaughlin
students had the opportunity to meet Robert Karimi,
author, poet and storyteller, Robert’s autobiographical
show, “Self (the remix)” is about a young
Iranian-Guatemalan with ADD who looks at the people
and music that shaped his identity. |
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Below are just a few of the students’ comments:
“Robert is very talented, gifted, real,
and funny. He was extremely encouraging and inspiring
to help us face our fears.”
“Robert did a very good job with his
presentation. It made me think about life and
the many things I could say and do. His poetry
was the best, because it seemed very true and
like his life story. If I could, I would ask
him to come back because it helped me and my
peers get a better look on poetry.”
“I think that Robert Kairmi liked the
performance he did, because he came back again
and performed for us. I think that he was very
funny and I liked his poetry that he told us.
I liked that he had a good stage presence and
it held my attention while he was speaking to
the rest of my peers.
“Thanks for letting Robert come and
tell his stories. I got a real lot out of some
of the things he said. I even learned a new way
to write raps, by using the way he taught us
how to write poetry. He showed us if you’re
doing something you love to do, it’s not
really a job because you are having fun while
doing it.”
“I really enjoyed Robert’s workshop.
He was really energetic and the stories he told
were really interesting. I liked the way he let
all of us participate and write our own poems.”
“…I like the poems he told us
and taught us how to rhyme in a poem. He got
my attention on poems. Someday I’d like
to see him and listen to his poems. I would go
to wherever he is and watch him.”
Thanks to Candace McKenzie and Out North, McLaughlin
students are receiving an education in the arts that
they might have missed. |
