Courageous Leaders In Service to their Communities

by Natalie Goodnow, Artistic Associate

Keri Boyd (aka Agent 89) and I have been having a blast visiting all the Courageous Leaders we’ve met throughout the fall semester, touring our four-day interactive performance residency called Courage in Action (CIA) to fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms all over Central Texas and we’re making the rounds of follow-up visits. We always love getting to say hello to our students again, seeing the bright smiles on their faces when they recognize us and how vividly they remember the program they had 6-10 weeks earlier. We’re also always curious to find out just how much headway they’ve made with the projects they began to imagine on Day Four of Courage in Action.

We were particularly impressed by the work of the 5th grade students at Mathews Elementary. One group,

A True Courageous Leader

by Natalie Goodnow, Artistic Associate

I can’t help but brag about one of our superstar courageous leader Theatre Action Project students.  When TAP Artistic Associate, Keri Boyd and I first started touring Courage in Action last year, one student, a fifth-grader at Smith Elementary at the time, blew us away. On Day 3 of Courage in Action, students engage in “simulations.” Through role play, they practice making plans and taking action to solve problems that affect their lives. The imaginary situation: a group of elementary students were trying to persuade other students to help them launch a community garden at their school. Keri and I, as “devil’s advocates” so to speak, were asking students how exactly they would take the plan, plant, and tend for this garden. One student piped up, saying “I’ll do it! I’ll plant the seeds! I’ll water the garden! And then, I can weed! I can do it all!”

I don’t know if we truly believe that a lasting transformation happens with any one person acting all by themselves, but still… We left just so wowed by her conviction, we were talking about her for weeks.

Perspective

by Mary Alice Carnes, Community Relations Manager

I was excited to see this photo download from my camera. This snapshot is of the city of Dinant in Wallonia, Belgium where I visited recently. The view is from Dinant’s historical Citadel.  Dinant is the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, the creator of the saxophone and if you look closely you’ll see the bridge lined with saxophones.