Residency At Mills Lawn




School Residency at Mills Lawn Elementary Jeff Hooper's company, Mad River Theater Works, performed Casey Jones for the whole school.




Preparation for Interview Day Mr. Hooper showed students the important events and inventions that had impact on the lives of the senior citizens. Together, Mr. Hooper and the students developed questions to find out about the seniors' childhoods, to elicit their stories. He also suggested that the seniors could draw a simple map to show how and where the events occurred.
Each interview was conducted by a group of students. At the end of the session, the most interesting stories were related to all.




Interview Day Third grade students interviewed several older residents of the community to discover what sort of experiences they recall from their childhoods in the 1920s to 1930s. How was life different and /or similar to the present times? Mr. Evans drew a map to help the children envision the places where his stories occurred. At age 10, he painted a grocery store to earn money but splattered a nearby car by accident. The grocer forgave him, paid him and even helped him clean up the car.

Mrs. Alexander related a story of being frightened as she walked through a cemetery near her school by a couple of big kids having fun.

Mr. Williamson told of his pony "Jim" who he rode to school. The pony would sometimes scratch his bridle off on a tree in the playground and walk home down the road if not caught.

Kwame told the story of his ancestral village and the spring there, of the animals who come to it, of the trees which surround it and of the steep climb down rock steps to the water.
As the story unfolded, Margot translated it into dance movements. Everyone told the story with their bodies to Kwame's words.



Learning Theater Skills "PROJECT!"
"FACE THE AUDIENCE!"
"HOW WOULD YOUR CHARACTER FEEL?"
First, Hal Walker helped some of the students to develop their plays. Hal worked with the students to help them express the feelings of their characters in the skits with gusto! He wrote a song in a brainstorming session with the children and sang it with them until they knew it by heart.



Rehearsal for the final Sharing Night


"Sharing Night" Performance
"Places, everyone!!"
The performance went well with the coordinated efforts of
the artists, teachers, parents and the children.

For more information about School Residency Program, contact:
Margaret Piatt
(937) 844-3902