by Freddy Carnes, Artistic Associate
While at our teacher training this week at Scottish Rite Theater,I was reminded why Creative Action continues to grow and attract such gifted young artists. Part of the training was to demonstrate to new teachers the power of using teacher-in-role (or acting out a character) to teach a lesson. The demonstration involved using “The Heroes/Los Heroes” show to spotlight how this technique worked. Mitch Bowman and Stephanie Chavez-Noell are the actors in the show and they performed an excerpt. It was great!
The teachers were totally engaged and played the part of Kindergarten students. The story, the humor and the scaffolding of questions built in to the show allow the actors to demonstrate to the children how to solve conflicts at school and at home.
I was so proud of Stephanie and Mitch for carrying on the tradition of “Heroes” just like other shows developed over the years to teach students about such issues as:
- Conflict resolution,
- World culture, and
- Bullying
I understand their commitment to making each show fresh and spontaneous. I was fortunate to perform in “The Heroes/Los Heroes” from 2006-2010. Mitch and Stephanie have added so many nice touches to the performance that it has become uniquely their own.
Once again I was reminded of the amazing opportunity that Creative Action has given to talented Austin artists to practice their craft. Thank you Creative Action!
About The Heroes/Los Heroes
- 97% of reporting teachers reported they had new tools to help them resolve classroom conflict
- 60% of teachers saw an increase in students engaging in a four-step conflict resolution process during any given week since receiving the Heroes program.
- 89% of participating teachers reported their students have been using vocabulary from the program to help them resolve conflict in the classroom
