Session 5, Week 5
Two months ago Marcus came in and shared his passion with the heroes (voice impersonations).
He asked who had a passion that they wanted to share. The heroes formed themselves into similar interest groups and began brainstorming.
The Middle School heroes went to visit the venue so that they had the needed backstage information.
Then came two months of hard work that I don’t have pictures of. Two months where the heroes planned and practiced their acts all on their own. They ran dress rehearsals at school, they practiced at home, in the mornings and some lunch times. The backstage crew put together the music, the flow of the show, and a plan for moving the props on and off stage.
When Marcus came back last week for a dress rehearsal at school, he was blown away by what the heroes had accomplished.
I think all of us were blown away Friday night by what the heroes accomplished.
This is what CHOICE is all about. Giving young people an opportunity to find, develop and share their passions in a learner driven way. There is much to be learned from the opportunity of being on stage. The courage, organization, planning, execution and joy that we witnessed on Friday night was truly inspiring. These young people can do such amazing things when we get out of their way!
In the Spark Studio it has been so fun to watch the heroes prepare for their Comedy Night performance. We often hear that as a child processes their world, it shows through their play. Thus we see children playing family, rainstorm, going on a vacation, going to work, etc. As the Sparks have been preparing for our Comedy Night performance they have been playing “performing a play.” They set up chairs, they make costumes, they write scripts, they rehearse lines, they practice where to stand. It’s darling!
And while the Spark heroes knew “The Golden Rule” song well, and have even performed it for their parents once before, it did not remove the fear from performing it to a larger audience. They have practiced coming on stage, off stage, where to stand, how loud to sing, what to do when they get nervous. Sharing a song that is very special to them is so much more than singing the song. As you can see through their play, it’s risky and full of fear; but it’s also full of friendship and excitement.
And I think we all agree, that they rocked it Friday night!
Our field trip to the Bountiful Davis Art Center this week was a great experience. We were able to see artwork from teenagers all over the county. These young people were so passionate about art that they entered the contest and shared their work with the whole community. The Spark heroes learned that art makes you feel many different emotions. They learned that one person may love a particular piece of art while another person doesn’t love it at all. Art is an emotional experience and it is risky to put your artwork on display for others to critic. 
After observing different styles of art, the learners prepared their own artistic displays.
This week we also learned about our local landfill. Our tour guide was a gentleman that has worked at the facility for over 30 years. He knew so much information about the ins and outs of the landfill and shared his passion with us. We even spent some time exploring the biggest pile of mulch you ever did see!
Performing is all about feeling inspired. When we think of a performance, we often imagine it on stage, but a puddle of water is all these heroes needed to inspire their dance performance!
In the Fire Studio the heroes had a few other opportunities to “perform” this week.
After preparing through books and questions throughout the session, ten heroes chose to take the stage and participate in a real sheep brain dissection this week. They were able to find in 3D the structures they had learned about in 2D.
In Jolliness, heroes continued to learn about coping with pain and discomfort–especially when pain is leading to something good, like stronger muscles! They worked in pairs to build their muscles by breaking them down through exercise. We explored the idea that “It is with muscles as it is with life: meaningful growth requires challenge and stress.”
This week in Quest, heroes who qualified were able to go on the Main Street Business Tour. Fliers were dropped off Tuesday, and Wednesday Interviews happened! Heroes had made a list of questions. Each hero asked a question at each location. They were center stage with each business owner/manager. Some were a little uncomfortable in the spotlight when that began, but quickly warmed up.
All the heroes have been working on their pitches for next week’s Exhibition where they will take the stage and introduce their business at Shark Tank!
In the Middle School the buck stops with them. They were ultimately the heroes in charge of the show. It was incredible to watch them take this responsibility and run with it. When a hero got stage fright and didn’t want to go on, it was the Middle Schoolers who calmed and encouraged them.
It was the Middle Schoolers who were backstage running the music and directing heroes on and off stage. It was the Middle Schoolers who were in the “Green room” taking care of all the Spark heroes all during the show. I don’t have pictures of any of this because I wasn’t even back there! I was in Costco last week with the Middle Schoolers when we passed a woman who looked at us skeptically and said to me, “I am done with teenagers.” I wish she could have been there Friday night to witness the kindness, responsibility and capacity of these teenagers!
There is a lot prep work that needs to happen for any performance. This week, the Middle Schoolers went down duirng lunch to the new property to clean up for their upcoming exhibition. It was so awesome to watch them organize themselves, get the work done so quickly, and have fun while doing so. Physical labor is healthy!
During Core Skills the heroes have been hyper focused on getting their goals done for the session. While during quest they have been anxiously preparing for the Exhibition stage. Some heroes have been drawn to finishing their space station designs on blender, while some have been super focused on getting their rockets to launch. From all of them I have heard, “I wish we had more time!” Sometimes you have to get on stage whether you are ready or not!
Over the past two months it has been awesome and inspiring to watch how different heroes approached the Comedy Night and how all the different personalities found their contribution. Some heroes love the spotlight and had little problem standing in front of a crowd to share their talents. Others battled nerves and really had to dig deep and try again and again to feel good about their performances. And others found their favorite way to contribute back stage, doing the nitty gritty jobs that make a production go smoothly. Marcus was a fantastic mentor, encouraging and guiding heroes with some of his hard-earned stage wisdom, but from beginning to end, this was a learner-driven production. Everyone had something to offer and everyone ran into roadblocks along the way to the final show, but the reward of sharing their gifts with the world made it well worth the effort.