A student’s success is a teacher’s greatest satisfaction. During my thirty years as an educator nothing has been more heartwarming for me than to see my students excel—unless it's collaborating with them on a creative project of mutual interest! The CFS alumni production of Ariel’s Way affords a golden opportunity for just this kind of mutually satisfying collaboration.
And how appropriate for this show! At one level, Ariel’s Way is a play about how teenagers need to separate from the adults in their lives and establish themselves as unique individuals. Only then can they be reconciled with their former caregivers in a new and more mature kind of relationship.
Let’s face the truth: every teacher has her or his informal list of favorite students—or at least of those students whose qualities and abilities single them out as "most likely to succeed" in leaving their mark on the wider world. The cast and crew of Ariel’s Way is a veritable “who’s who” of such former students. And those students have grown even more admirable as adults!
As educators we identify gifts and talents (hopefully in each of our students), and then we guide and we mentor--but, mostly, we simply behold the blossoming of our students’ skills and abilities. Those students with whom we make the strongest connections, or with whom we share the most similar interests, may continue to stay in touch with us, and we with them. Thus the circles of friendship and collaboration grow and intersect. Sometimes those intersecting circles spiral into forms that significantly increase the surrounding culture’s store of wisdom, justice, or beauty.
The opportunity for former teachers and students, and for artists of different generations, to find common cause in bringing art to life has made Ariel’s Way an attractive proposition both to me and to former CFS students. The result of that collaboration, we are united in believing, will make compelling entertainment for audiences of all generations.
Meet the directors, cast and crew of Ariel's Way in upcoming blogs.
And how appropriate for this show! At one level, Ariel’s Way is a play about how teenagers need to separate from the adults in their lives and establish themselves as unique individuals. Only then can they be reconciled with their former caregivers in a new and more mature kind of relationship.
Let’s face the truth: every teacher has her or his informal list of favorite students—or at least of those students whose qualities and abilities single them out as "most likely to succeed" in leaving their mark on the wider world. The cast and crew of Ariel’s Way is a veritable “who’s who” of such former students. And those students have grown even more admirable as adults!
As educators we identify gifts and talents (hopefully in each of our students), and then we guide and we mentor--but, mostly, we simply behold the blossoming of our students’ skills and abilities. Those students with whom we make the strongest connections, or with whom we share the most similar interests, may continue to stay in touch with us, and we with them. Thus the circles of friendship and collaboration grow and intersect. Sometimes those intersecting circles spiral into forms that significantly increase the surrounding culture’s store of wisdom, justice, or beauty.
The opportunity for former teachers and students, and for artists of different generations, to find common cause in bringing art to life has made Ariel’s Way an attractive proposition both to me and to former CFS students. The result of that collaboration, we are united in believing, will make compelling entertainment for audiences of all generations.
Meet the directors, cast and crew of Ariel's Way in upcoming blogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment