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Published on 01/25/1999 All articles from this issue

Artist-in-residence program brings history alive

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By Linda Taaffe

Town Crier Staff Writer

Santa Rita students perform 'HerStory' as part of studies

Using a few props and some sound effects, sixth-graders joined up with three professional actors to bring their history curriculum alive at Santa Rita School last week.

The 30 student-actors protested for women's voting rights, boycotted buses alongside Rosa Parks and fought for social reform during "HerStory" - a 45-minute play about women who have impacted American history.

"Most of the time we read about things. I like performing," sixth-grader Jayme Mitchell said about the program.

"You're actually having fun and doing it."

The performance was part of the school's artist-in-residence program, launched last year with funds from the Santa Rita Parents-Teachers' Association and a $5,000 grant from the Whitney Education Foundation, to provide students an intimate view of the creative process.

Principal Steve Peck said bringing artists into the classroom seems to bond children together in a way other learning experiences don't.

"Theater adds that missing element to school. The kids don't sit and watch, they do it," Peck said.

He talked about how the students learned to ad lib during their first performance of "HerStory" last week when the electricity went out, cutting off the sound.

"That's part of theater. The actors didn't miss a beat," he said.

Through the company Theatre of All Possibilities, students direct and produce plays based on their grade's social studies curriculum.

Students receive a script in advance and then work with actors from the company one hour prior to the school performance.

Peck said this is the first year Santa Rita students have worked with the theater group. Grades 4, 5 and 6 will have had a chance to perform different themes from American history by the end of this school year, he said.

Sixth-grade teacher Kirby Conrad said her students were enthusiastic about incorporating what they had learned in social studies classes into a play.

Conrad said when her class reviewed the script, "the students were shocked about how little they knew about women."

She said the program has been a great learning experience and something she believes the students will remember long afterwards.

Daraj Maxfield launched the Santa Cruz-based theater program in 1981 to enhance students' school curriculum, self-esteem and interest in the theatrical arts.

The company has traveled as far as Russia and Nicaragua over the years, said Lisa Kang, who has been with the theater group since the start of this year.

Kang said most of the students "get really into it. They always ask when we're coming back."