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Even when there are lots of new things going on at CANY, we always want to take a moment to talk about the core of our programming: drama therapy groups.
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The start of a new academic semester often marks a new beginning for our school-based drama therapy groups. At Wildcat Academy, an alternative high school, we start fresh with a new group of students. And so, the topic of beginnings often emerges. This past week was no different. The students came up with a list of times in life when we start anew. After creating the list which included events such as moving, attending a new school and developing new relationships, we divided into two smaller groups, each of which was given the task of dramatizing one new beginning from the list and presenting it to the larger group. In one of the small groups, Angela (not her real name) chose to create a dramatized story about graduation. For her, graduation marks the beginning of "new opportunities." As an 18-year-old, this young woman should be very close to her own graduation. But this is not the case. With a physically abusive mother and two young sons, school has not been Angela's first priority. She's at least one year away from graduating high school.
Within her story, Angela chose to play "Jennifer," an oppositional, truant and hard partying student about to drop out of high school. Through the story, CANY co-leaders saw Jennifer refuse help from her tough but caring Principal and express no desire to accept any support offered to her. Jennifer didn't believe in herself. But then Angela made a specific and conscious choice. She suggested that we fast-forward one year to see a very different scene: Jennifer accepting her High School Diploma. "See?" Jennifer said to her Principal with a guarded air of pride, "I got my act together."
After presenting her scene, many of the group participants commented on how Angela's dramatized story was so similar to their own. One member commented, "Graduation's possible for me, too." Another student reflected, "[Her story] made me realize how I need to control my anger better. I am going to get my diploma."
The session was a reminder that hope, change and new life possibilities can be made more tangible through group collaboration and creativity. Notably Jennifer's character didn't change her personality. While she worked hard, there was still a sense of insolence as she related to her Principal. "This was an essential observation for the group to make. Being authentic is clearly important to them," noted Meredith Dean, CANY co-leader. "The story helped these students realize that achieving a goal doesn't mean you have to change everything about who you are. It made the possibility of graduation more of a reality for these students who have come to Wildcat for their 'second chance.'"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are interested in partnering with CANY and bringing drama therapy to your organization, send us a message. |
