Improv Night at Alexandria House

A new addition to our workshops is a monthly improv night with Clive Ashborn (Kim's brother-in-law), a working actor with "V for Vendetta" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" II and III to his name. The first workshop earlier this month was a huge success, and even the shyest of the teens was volunteering to get up "on stage" before the night was through.

After an introduction from Clive ...

... we all learn how to be aware of the space around us, as well as create a personality for ourselves ...

... including --- ahem! --- Rainbow. Yes, Rainbow came alive during this night of improv!!

And no, this isn't about not being able to stop laughing. The laughter is actually part of this improv moment.

One of many improv scenes acted out throughout the night.

The scenes between these two even included a little existentialism. As for all the teens, they'll never again be able to say "and worse than that" without laughing!

(Thanks to Kim's sis/Clive's wife, Julie, for acting as official photographer for the night.)

Teens & Politics

At the beginning of this school year, when asked what they wanted to write about, the teens' first response was the election. So early this month one of our writing workshops focused on politics. The teens talked about what they've heard in the news, and more important to them, the issues that affect them. Then, some of them wrote about it in letters to the future president ...

CHRISTY

Future President,
Please stop the war. My niece not being able to see her dad. My cousin at war calling and crying because he’s scared & he feels guilty for killing. My family worried when the news pops up saying soldiers have died. Everyone hopes my cousin will come home safe.
Christy

GRACE

Dear Mr. President,
Future ruler of the world. Future caretaker of all the problems in this world. This election is one I’ll remember, and don’t wanna 4get. I am not old enough to vote. But if I was. O-M-G! I’ll be confused … In school we learn how to succeed in life. How to make a good living. Not to be racist or judgmental. But what kind of example is this society we live in? Growing up in a middle class community, we see the ups and the downs … “Don’t judge a book by its cover” … We get so many things said to us. But Mr. President, none of this is true. Even if we do follow the rules, we’re gonna die … Not by natural causes … but by people killing our place. Global warming, think about it. You might be the President of this world. But you can’t control everything. In my future I don’t want a society based on your looks, color of skin. What happened to peace on earth? Equality. People, people!.. My friends are this world’s future leaders. But we don’t have role models to look up 2.

In easy words, don’t **** up. We don’t want to die before we reach our goal. Do something. Make a difference. Speak up ………….

Dear Mr. President, don’t tell separate families, immigration is bad. Dear Mr. President, there’s so many people without homes. There’s so much poverty. Take your time, I ain’t telling you to rush. Take baby steps and we will never want to change you … We won’t recycle you … Oh, and dear President, think green … animals are humans too. Save the penguins!

So please Mr. President, “Don’t **** Up!” We need to survive in this world.

Grace

JORGE

Dear Future President,
Stop the war that is in Iraq because people could die. Also, u do not tell some of their families. Also u do not know if their families miss them and also u do not know if they have children and their children miss them also, and when they die u do not know how they are going to feel. Also about immigration. A long time ago when the United States of America was America, it was the United States of Mexico. When we did a contract forever that people who were from Mexico come to the USA and could become citizens. And the contract was not ever done.
Sincerely,
Jorge

JUAN

Dear Mr. In-Charge,
Make yourself useful and get us out of debt and save us. We will soon be starving. The world is changing, and it’s changing with you. If we are doomed, so are you, and you should do something about it. I really don’t know how to get it in your head, but that’s all that should matter now. Us, not you.
Juan

NOEL

Dear Future President Dude,
I think all kids would want to be in a better school (better as safe). I would want you to stop the war before my cousin decides to go there and get killed in Iraq. I would also want you to help the homeless and build a big home for all the homeless. So please make my dream come TRUE!!!
Noel

PS Homework kills trees!!! STOP IT!

Camping at Jackson Flats

In June 2008 we had the chance to go camping at Jackson Flats. Along with charades, hiking, and a campfire and s'mores, we even had a rattlesnake sighting near our camp.

Who says a bunch of city kids can't put up a tent??? It was the volunteers (Jaimey, Kelly, Kat, Michelle, and Kim) who needed help lighting that darn barbecue ... though Jaimey wins points back for driving a FULL van both ways.

After dinner, many of the teens read pieces that they had written in the writing workshop. As always, the work was impressive.

Nothing like a good campfire to scare away the bears ... though there was a rumor one wandered through our camp in the early morning!

While hiking, we encountered a couple horseback riders who let the teens feed the horses apples.

Our outing ended with a hike that we all survived ... barely!! But the scenery was well worth the exhaustion ... this should definitely be an annual event.