Today's the day!!! It's hard to believe how
quickly 8 weeks goes by. It feels like just yesterday that I was
catching up with familiar faces (when did my returning students get so
tall?!?!) and getting to know my first-time actors.
This program, from the beginning, has held a special place in my heart. As many of you know, just a few weeks before the first class, I made the heart-wrenching and thrilling decision to take a yearlong sabbatical from Daytime Moon in order to move to Boston and pursue my masters degree at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. Knowing this would be my last program before moving for a year has deeply colored this experience, and emotional contradiction of heart-wrenching and thrilling has never gone away. This group of students, more than any other, has challenged me as an educator--How can you create a space where someone with tons of acting experience and someone with very little both grow? How can you create a play space that pushes a wizard and a princess and an evil business executive to collaborate? Further, how can you create a script from that?!?
But these students have also given me the greatest rewards. They are kind and open to exploration. They want to play. They have sought to better understand the world around them and the minds of themselves and each other. What teacher wouldn't feel blessed beyond belief to have such students? What director wouldn't thank the theatre gods for the privilege of creating a production with such willing playmates?
The students in this program--Jake A., Sarah, Christine, Karen, Teddy, Nicholas, Alex, Jake M., and Kendall--have made this spring a time of great joy for me. Every week, I leave class on Cloud Nine, sure that there is no where in the world I'd rather be. Every week, playing with them, I question whether leaving for Boston is the right decision. My heart aches when I think about leaving our classrooms, even for a year. But when I hear them confidently say their lines, when I see the light of understanding in how a children's book author, a flower, and a lawyer could be in the same story, when I see the pride in their eyes when they see a line they said in rehearsal in print in the final script... I know that furthering my education is the right decision. Because these students have made me want to be better. They have pushed me to better understand my practice as an educator, to better appreciate the unique power of the arts, and to better serve the exceptional population I've chosen to spend my life with. They have inspired me to take the next step in my own education, so that I am better able to impact theirs. So that Daytime Moon, as special as it is, will cease to be a unique model of recreational arts programming, and so the amazing students we work with will never cease to shine.
This show, "Courting Magic," is truly a testament to the spirit of creativity that has lived in our classroom since Day 1. Truly: an attorney, an author, a flower, a musician, an evil businessman, a magical dancer, a princess, a wizard, and a prince all play an important role in this story. When I say it is the most exciting production to date, I'm not lying--I'm amazed to see how seamlessly it has come together and in awe of the lives these students have created for their characters. So, as I pack up my bags and head to the theater, I can think of no better way to begin the next chapter of my life: making a little bit of magic with the exceptional people who've inspired me to take the step.
I hope you'll join us for the show. Tickets to "Courting Magic" are free and can be reserved here: www.daytimemooncourtsmagic.eventbrite.com.
Can't wait to share it with you!!
Cheers,
Jenna
This program, from the beginning, has held a special place in my heart. As many of you know, just a few weeks before the first class, I made the heart-wrenching and thrilling decision to take a yearlong sabbatical from Daytime Moon in order to move to Boston and pursue my masters degree at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. Knowing this would be my last program before moving for a year has deeply colored this experience, and emotional contradiction of heart-wrenching and thrilling has never gone away. This group of students, more than any other, has challenged me as an educator--How can you create a space where someone with tons of acting experience and someone with very little both grow? How can you create a play space that pushes a wizard and a princess and an evil business executive to collaborate? Further, how can you create a script from that?!?
But these students have also given me the greatest rewards. They are kind and open to exploration. They want to play. They have sought to better understand the world around them and the minds of themselves and each other. What teacher wouldn't feel blessed beyond belief to have such students? What director wouldn't thank the theatre gods for the privilege of creating a production with such willing playmates?
The students in this program--Jake A., Sarah, Christine, Karen, Teddy, Nicholas, Alex, Jake M., and Kendall--have made this spring a time of great joy for me. Every week, I leave class on Cloud Nine, sure that there is no where in the world I'd rather be. Every week, playing with them, I question whether leaving for Boston is the right decision. My heart aches when I think about leaving our classrooms, even for a year. But when I hear them confidently say their lines, when I see the light of understanding in how a children's book author, a flower, and a lawyer could be in the same story, when I see the pride in their eyes when they see a line they said in rehearsal in print in the final script... I know that furthering my education is the right decision. Because these students have made me want to be better. They have pushed me to better understand my practice as an educator, to better appreciate the unique power of the arts, and to better serve the exceptional population I've chosen to spend my life with. They have inspired me to take the next step in my own education, so that I am better able to impact theirs. So that Daytime Moon, as special as it is, will cease to be a unique model of recreational arts programming, and so the amazing students we work with will never cease to shine.
This show, "Courting Magic," is truly a testament to the spirit of creativity that has lived in our classroom since Day 1. Truly: an attorney, an author, a flower, a musician, an evil businessman, a magical dancer, a princess, a wizard, and a prince all play an important role in this story. When I say it is the most exciting production to date, I'm not lying--I'm amazed to see how seamlessly it has come together and in awe of the lives these students have created for their characters. So, as I pack up my bags and head to the theater, I can think of no better way to begin the next chapter of my life: making a little bit of magic with the exceptional people who've inspired me to take the step.
I hope you'll join us for the show. Tickets to "Courting Magic" are free and can be reserved here: www.daytimemooncourtsmagic.eventbrite.com.
Can't wait to share it with you!!
Cheers,
Jenna
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