TOPS K-8: Family Cultural Celebrations 2008
In the spring of 2008, two 8th grade Language Arts / Social Studies classes at TOPS K-8 worked with Jack Straw’s team of artists to develop radio theater pieces based on their family and community cultural celebrations.
Working with writer Kathleen Flenniken, students developed interview questions for their parents and other family members who have stories and details to share about their celebrations. Students then worked with Kathleen to develop their written pieces, including sensory details and ideas about sounds that could enhance the audio versions of their pieces. Once their writing was complete, students worked with theater artists Amy Broomhall and Michele Khazak to develop their skills as readers of their work.
Both classes then came to Jack Straw’s studios, where they worked with Amy and Michele and audio engineers Moe Provencher, Tom Stiles, and CJ Lazenby to record their voices, sounds, and music. Each participant received a CD of everyone’s work in a final celebration at the end of the project.
Do Tell: Family Cultural Celebrations was produced by Jack Straw Productions (now Jack Straw Cultural Center) and TOPS K-8, with the generous support of the TOPS PTSA, the Washington State Arts Commission Arts in Education Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, and individual contributors.
Our production team included Jack Straw writer and lead teaching artist Kathleen Flenniken; Jack Straw audio engineers Moe Provencher, Tom Stiles, CJ Lazenby, and Wrick Wolff; theater artist Amy Broomhall; producer Jennie Cecil Moore; special guest Huda Giddins; photographer Dean Wong; and Executive Director Joan Rabinowitz. Special thanks to TOPS students, parents, and teacher Tom O’Connor who all helped make this project possible.
Artists
Kathleen Flenniken
Kathleen Flenniken began her career as a civil engineer and didn’t discover poetry until her early 30s. Her collection, Plume (University of Washington Press, 2012), a meditation on the…
READ MORE >