Chattanooga, TN
Clinton who? Where’s McCain again?
Ah, the wonders of a news day in small town America. Michelle and I performed in Henderson, KY the last couple days and the local paper came out and did a story at our second school on Tuesday. Some of the more astute out there might also recall that there was some national political goings-on that same day. Apparently Henderson couldn’t have cared less about that. We were the lead story, A-1, above the fold in Wednesday’s paper, followed by that stuff that went on in New Hampshire (sure, they were A-1, but below the fold). Or, maybe we just take better pictures than politicians.
The response to our shows, now three days into the tour, has been outstanding. I admit I really didn’t know what to think coming out of rehearsal. The Poetry Alive! show is nothing like anything I’ve done before; I wasn’t sure what student response to it would be. It’s not that any of the particulars of the show: mime, poetry, audience participation, etc, were new to me, but rather the way they fit together created a whole new animal.
The kids (we’ve done shows for 5th through 10th grades so far) have really been engaged and followed the shows in their entirety. These shows may be the best litmus test I’ve seen for judging curiosity levels in students. As those who’ve read a little here at clowning (or participated with me in other forums) know, I value curiosity above just about anything else, especially when it comes to education. In the Intelligent Design Movement, the Ftks, JoeGs, and Dembskis of the world just aren’t curious about anything and it shows in their work and lack of work. If they would engage in just the tiny amount of questioning and exploring that the students in our shows do, I bet they’d be better off.
Unfortunately, not only do they and many others live an incurious life, they try and force that same boring existence on our students. Shame on them. I wish they could hear the students talking in the halls and classrooms after being exposed to something they’ve never seen before. They’re interested, motivated, and active. Isn’t that every school’s goal?
A Clown in the Middle 
Congratulations! I’m very proud that you came in ahead of political news. The children’s curiosity development is by far more interesting and important.
Well, I don’t know about more important, but to many people (myself included) it is certainly more interesting.