Brown's Arts/Literacy Project isn't about turning high school students into actors; it’s about getting them to read
Richard Winslow’s literacy class at Central Falls High School may be half a world away from Stratford-upon-Avon, but the teens sporting the gold chains, body piercing and low-slung baggy jeans are discovering what they have in common with William Shakespeare and his characters.
Under the auspices of Brown’s Arts/Literacy Project, Donald King, executive director of Providence’s Black Repertory Theatre, and Winslow recently led the students through a series of acting exercises that will prepare them to perform works by the Bard and other playwrights this spring. Breaking into small groups, the students acted out tableaus depicting fear, love, confusion and other emotions. The last group, however, was stymied when its members tried to depict jealousy.
"Why are we interested in jealousy?" asked King.
"Because Othello was jealous," responded one young man. When the discussion turned to the subject of fear, the same student recalled a passage in "A Lesson Before Dying" in which the character was afraid.
"Remember we read that?" he asked his classmates.
"This is not about making them actors; it’s about getting them to read," explained Brown’s Mike Baron, who serves as the coordinator for the Arts/Literacy Project that is now part of 20 classrooms in high schools and middle schools in Providence and Central Falls.
The project, now in its third year, is a collaboration between Brown’s Education Department and Brown Summer High School, area teachers, and actors and directors from Trinity, the Black Repertory and Perishable theaters. Funded by grants from the Rhode Island Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the project is designed to improve literacy skills for at-risk and ESL students through theater arts. In each participating class, the teacher partners with a visiting actor; in some classes, Brown students observe and lend a hand with exercises.
While the program sponsors hope to turn their students into better readers, the project also builds confidence. When Winslow’s students list their observations of the day’s session, one finds that he and his classmates have displayed courage.
"We went up there and did what we had to do," he said, gesturing toward the makeshift stage area at the front of the classroom. Before the school year is out, the same students will perform portions of "Othello," "A Lesson Before Dying" and "Of Mice and Men" for other classes at Central Falls High School.
"You’ll be able to take risks once you’re more comfortable with this," King told the teens.
T
he participating actors will visit their classrooms 24 times during the course of their program, according to Brown’s project director Kurt Wootton. King will visit Winslow’s class another dozen times over the next six weeks."Our goal is to have arts in the class 90 out of 180 days," said Wootton.
Brown’s program serves a dual purpose, he added. During the summer session, its mentors train teachers and help them integrate the arts into their school curriculum. It also helps area arts organizations develop their ability to work with schools; King credits Brown with helping him "make the educational links (he needed) to feel like I’m making a difference in (the students’) academic performance."
Eighteen teachers and about a dozen actors have gone through the summer training to date, according to Baron.
Jesse MacDonald ’02.5 has visited Winslow’s Central Falls classroom each Friday this semester as part of his education course in arts and literacy.
"It’s very interesting, the whole classroom dynamic," said MacDonald. "They’re getting these kids to think — not about making a right answer, but about reading ‘Othello’ and figuring it out."
"This really enhances their understanding of literature and words. It takes them to a whole new level," said King. "We get in there to get them to want to learn."