Youth learning to work at play

Page 2

A group of northern teens spent a part of their summer getting serious about play.

These La Ronge and area youth, ages 12 to 15, spent their mornings learning theatre skills -everything from juggling to the fine art of overcoming stage fright. In the afternoons, however, they could be spotted tooling around town in a paint-splotched black van, searching for bored kids who'd like to, well, play. The youth were responsible for organizing activities for their peers, and for this part of the day, they were paid.

The project, which wrapped up in mid-August, was funded through a national crime prevention grant, with administrative support coming from the Sagastew Regional Recreation Association, and community backing from Pre-Cam, Gordon Denny and Churchill community schools.

This combination of learning and leading is called "The Play Project", and it's the brainchild of Mary Anne Baxter, Gordon Denny's community school co-ordinator, Wendy Dice, community school coordinator at Churchill high school, and Sarah Poole, who co-directed the summer youth program with Darwin Roy.

For Poole, who grew up in La Ronge and has spent the past year as an arts educator at Churchill high school, the project is a way to accomplish several goals: instilling in her kids both a love of the performing arts and a strong work ethic, building up their self-esteem, and giving them a greater sense of pride and identity as northerners.

Poole and Roy worked with the youth Monday to Friday. From 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., they taught the basic skills of performance, such as acting, juggling and singing. The youth also learned one of Roy's songs, a Cree language piece about living in the North, which they performed in front of the Java Shack coffeehouse and at a banquet held for participants in a language training program. They are also put together a locally tailored version of Tom Stoppard's "15-Minute Hamlet", which they performed as "street theatre" at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival.

Then, in the afternoons twice a week, the youth worked as play leaders for neighborhood youth. They were responsible for planning the afternoon activities, whether it be a puppet show or a game of soccer. Sometimes these activities went over well; other times, they didn't. The better-planned ones usually succeeded, but either way, the end result was the youths' burden alone. For most of these kids, it was the first time such responsibility had been placed in their hands, and Poole feels that was tremendously important.

"One of the best things for these kids is to have a job," Poole said.

"Having your own pay cheque -number one, you know that society values you for something. You feel grown up. Number two, you're learning how to be a worker." Sometimes that means facing up to some harsh realities; none of the youth had ever had deductions taken off a pay cheque before, and Poole laughingly recalled their dismay at discovering that the government was taking away money that they had earned.

Roy and Poole also imposed some workplace conditions. Only those who attended the morning classes were eligible for afternoon work assignments. No alcohol or drug use was allowed, and there was a "one-strike" policy in place-if you screwed up, you had to meet with the co-ordinators, who discussed with you what happened and set conditions for future behavior. One more screw-up and you were out. These conditions were only in place during daytime hours, but a youth who is out partying the night before is not likely to show up on time the next morning.

Since the conditions were tied in with holding on to a job, the youth actually found it easier to abide by them in the face of peer pressure, Poole said.

"If a kid can say, 'I would lose my job if I did that,' it's more socially acceptable," she said.

As for the work the youth did during the program, it too has had benefits for local young people. "Their job is to play," Poole said.

"Too many kids have forgotten how to play, they ust throw rocks instead. . . . They're waiting for someone to tell them what to do."

Poole is hoping to get funding to run another project similar to The Play Project next year.