Last night was my son’s school production of shakespeare’s A midsummer night’s dream.  What a performance!  The show was not an exact duplicate of the original because of course the content of the original is not really appropriate for kids.  I think their version was much more entertaining.  In fact, it was hilarious!  There were some points during the play you couldn’t hear the actors because the audience was laughing so loud.  I’m glad I recorded the performance and hopefully I can post a few clips.  Braeden played the role of “quince” and he did a great job.  I hope braeden will continue with the drama program next year in highschool.

good job braeden! 

taking a bow

the “after party” 

In the last 2-3 years, drama has exploded within the schools.   My son has been involved in drama for the past 2 years.  In the last 2 weeks, I have attended 2 plays put on by the local elementary schools and I was totally blown away by their performances.  What I like the most is ALL the kids are involved in the production.  Whether they are one of the main characters or a stage hand, everyone is involved.  I was involved in sports when I was in school and while I attribute my confidence and abilities as an athlete to these programs, I have spent time on the bench.  Not everyone is involved in a game.  Some are left on the sidelines and you wonder how that is suppose to build confidence.

There are a few more performances coming up and I will definitely be going.  Grace is really enjoying the plays as well.  Hopefully she will follow in her brother’s footsteps and take an interest in drama.

Braeden in last year’s production of Romeo and Juliet

My daughter’s school is one of several island schools to be paired up with another school in Kenya.   What is school twinning you ask?  It is when one school pairs up with another school that may not have the available finances necessary to purchase basic school supplies.  My daughter’s class exchanges letters and pictures with their twinned class.  Her school also holds various fundraisers and sends the money to the twinned school.  By doing this, the kids can learn about another country and how important it is to help others in need.  I’ve included more info from the website below.  It’s a very interesting concept and a great idea!!

Karibu: Two Easts A School Twinning Project Background:

When several of our Farmers Helping Farmers members went to Kenya in 2002 to visit our agricultural projects, we began to realize the impact our projects were having on the local schools. In the Nyeri district, for instance, the added income resulting from the expanded Wakulima Self-Help Group Dairy project enabled more of the members’ children to go to school. The parents could now afford school fees and uniforms, or could get access to small loans through the Dairy to pay the fees. In Meru, the impact was just as positive. One woman, who was a water tank recipient from Farmers Helping Farmers, remarked tearfully, “I can now get my children to school, clean and on time!” It demonstrated to the Canadians the high value Africans place on education! Several of our members therefore made a commitment to share what they had learned in Africa with schools in our own Canadian province by developing a school-twinning project.

Project Impact:

Four schools in the Nyeri district are now successfully twinned with four Prince Edward Island schools. They are:

• Morell Consolidated School - Mwati School (2002)
• Miscouche Consolidated School - Gathukimundu School (2002)
• Vernon River Consolidated School - Khuti School (2003)
• Montague Senior High - Meru School (2004)

Students from each school exchange letters and photos that encourage a better understanding of each other, including different cultures and global issues. We estimate that over 2000 students are being reached by this project. Farmers Helping Farmers relies entirely on generous financial donations from the local Royalty Rotary Club to fund Karibu:Two Easts. Additional support from the Prince Edward Island Twinning Schools, the Prince Edward Island Department of Education, and the management committees and school chairpersons in Kenya have also helped make this project successful. This opportunity will benefit students, teachers and their communities for years to come.

I am so proud of my kids tonight. Grace graduated from french kindergarten tonight and Braeden had a brilliant performance in his school play “Romeo and Juliet”.

My proud little grad:

Grace had a great year in Kindergarten. She met alot of friends and enjoyed being in school. She had no trouble with learning french and she is really happy about going into grade one in the fall.

Braeden totally blew me away with his performance tonight. He played “Mercurtio” in Romeo and Juliet he did an amazing job. He was totally in character. I missed the first 10 min because Grace’s graduation began at 6:30 pm, so of course Braeden’s play was scheduled at 7pm the same night! Grace accepted her certificate and we were out the door in one fail swoop! Gabby was being difficult and really gave me a hard time at Braeden’ s play. She started getting really bad just after Braeden’s character was killed, so I didn’t mind taking her out and letting her run around the school. She was fascinated by the boys in the gym playing volleyball…not a good sign! hehe. Anyway, as I mentioned Braeden was amazing tonight and I wish I had recorded the performance on video. I may ask him to ask his drama teacher if he could have a copy of her recording. I won’t ask her myself because well…… I DID end up calling the principal yesterday and complaining about her comment to my husband about Braeden missing a practice. Believe me, the complaint was well justified!! Braeden wants to participate in the drama club next year and after his performance tonight, I’m not about to discourage him. He really did a phenomenal job tonight and I’m happy he has found something he truly enjoys.

the performance:

his character being killed