Holliman, Artists’ Exchange collaborate to teach about friendship

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 6/16/15

Be careful about being a bully at Holliman Elementary School, you might just have to stay in summer school until you learn how to be kind.

At least, that was the plot of Holliman’s latest play …

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Holliman, Artists’ Exchange collaborate to teach about friendship

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Be careful about being a bully at Holliman Elementary School, you might just have to stay in summer school until you learn how to be kind.

At least, that was the plot of Holliman’s latest play “Bully Ghost Stories of Summer School: Three Tales of True Friendship.”

The play was the culminating product of a seven-week after school theatre program run by Artists’ Exchange.

This is the second year of the program and 41 students from grades 1 through 6 participated.

Joseph Coffey, principal of Holliman, said that the school had wanted to run a theatre program, but weren’t sure where to start and thought that bringing in a professional program like Artists’ Exchange would give the students an opportunity to really experience performing.

“They really do a nice job,” Coffey said. “Students are challenged in a way they may not be normally.”

The students met every Friday for an hour after school practicing the play written and directed by Jessica Chase from Artists’ Exchange. The play focused on changing the ways of the “Bully Brigade” and turning them into kind people by showing them the good of being a friend.

Chace said this year was a little more “intense” than the last because there were nearly double the students participating and the group worked with a scripted piece.

One way Chase eased the play process was using the framework of recognizable fairytales for the three core stories in the show.

“Fairy tales were a familiar vehicle we could use to talk about bullying and kindness,” Chace said.

Of course by the end the Bully Brigade is rehabilitated swearing to be a friend for the whole school year.

Chace said when she first asked all the students why they wanted to join the program most said they wanted to either make friends or gain more confidence.

Coffey said many students who joined the program are very shy during school but “I know all the kids and you wouldn’t believe it watching this show.”

Because public speaking is so vital to students not only in school but also once they move into their careers, Coffey said it was important to give kids the opportunity to work on those skills in a fun way at an early age. He said even just to finish high school students need to be comfortable expressing themselves in front of a small crowd for senior project.

Audrey Shapiro, wife of the late Robert Shapiro, a past superintendent, attended one of the performances. The Robert Shapiro Fund donated $500 to the school for an arts program and an extra $200 to help put on the performance.

Robert Shapiro was dedicated to enhancing the arts in the Warwick School System, and his memorial fund goes to local schools for various art programs. Audrey Shapiro said that by encouraging the performing arts students could build up their confidence at a younger age.

“When you foster a love for the arts in elementary school they can build on this interest into their secondary schools and enhance the programs there,” she said.

Chace said, “In schools the arts are often the first program cut, but it really is a positive way for kids to express themselves in a bunch of different ways.”

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