Kindergartners Learn Life Skills - On Stage

by Terry Toll, of the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation

(December 16, 2003) With squeals, screams, giggles and applause, kindergartners from throughout Mamaroneck School District topped-off two months of workshops in the “Art of Collaboration” at a final performance on December 10.

The Location: Murray Avenue School auditorium.

The Cast: movement artists and educators, Paul Rajeckas and Neil Intraub of Theatre Moves, plus select members of the audience.

The Audience: almost 300 kindergartners and their teachers from Central, Mamaroneck Avenue and Murray Avenue schools. (Another 130 Chatsworth Avenue students will see the performance at a later date.)

The Plot: a robot runs wild, a boy tries to escape being eaten by Pacman, strangers mistake each other for friends, and children imitate grownup performers in all sorts of gestures and facial expressions.

With a mix of mime, vaudeville, imagination and discipline, Rajeckas and Intraub illustrated that learning the “The Three C’s” of concentration, cooperation and commitment can be a laughing matter.

Shaping their “training” sessions around kindergartners’ love of the ridiculous, extreme and irrational sides of life, Rajeckas and Intraub have spent the last two months introducing the children to “The Three C’s.” In a step-by-step sequence, they have escorted their students through increasingly difficult and accomplished stages of performance.

First, came the challenge of watching carefully and controlling your body in the “Red Light, Green Light” exercise. Next came the challenge of following instructions and copying an example in the “Telephone” exercise. A third exercise called on children to both relax and control their facial expressions, as if they were posing for a group photograph. Learning how to move and pose as a group in slow and fast motion was the focus of “connecting” and “kaleidoscope” exercises. A difficult exercise that required the students to stay connected to each other while moving through various fun poses, stretched the children – physically and mentally. A final activity integrated all the skills the children had been working on: two students walked from opposite ends of the stage past each other, and upon realizing that they might know each other, the children turned around in slow motion to face each other and exchange a wordless “hello.” As a reward for completing each exercise, the kids on stage took a bow while their classmates in the audience applauded.

“The children were totally engaged – their eyes glued to Rajeckas and Intraub,” noted Susan Malamed, a Mamaroneck Schools Foundation manager of the grant for Theatre Moves, and parent of a second grader at Central School. “They were absorbing every movement and motion.”

Some students in Patrice Schwartz’s kindergarten class at Murray Avenue School admitted that it was ”scary” and sometimes “uncomfortable” to take a bow, walk slowly, and freeze standing on one leg. But this didn’t stop them from trying each activity as it unfolded. And for other children who initially felt too shy to go on stage, inhibitions melted by the end of the second workshop session. As Malamed explained, “I particularly noticed that the few children who did not want to participate during the workshop jumped up with alacrity at the end, when all the children were called up for the final movement.”

The connection between joy and learning can be magical, but it is also very practical for both students and teachers. As Patrice Schwartz observed, Rajeckas and Intraub’s “Three C’s” program is especially valuable to kindergartners as they begin their first year at school. “These skills for getting along with others and focusing to learn are introduced in a wonderful playful way. The exercises we practiced in the workshops provide teachers with good tools for reinforcing the concepts of cooperation and concentration throughout the year, and helping children follow instructions, work in a group, and understand non-verbal communication. We also learned what it feels like to be students. The exercises were challenging!” At the same time, Schwartz added, “Students gain opportunities to show their talents in different ways, and gain comfort and safety with their bodies. There are speaking roles, slapstick exaggerated movement roles, posturing roles, solo and ensemble activities, and still life and interactive roles. There’s something for almost everyone.”

Theatre Moves artists Paul Rajeckas and Neil Intraub have taught “The Three C’s” to Murray Avenue School students of all grades since 2001 as part of a Murray PTA initiative. This year, in response to teacher recommendations, the program was expanded and refocused for kindergartners and their teachers. Jane Hoffman, PTA Council District Chairperson for Cultural Arts, led efforts to schedule workshops for each school and to raise funds from the Mamaroneck Schools Foundation. “After seeing Paul and Neil excite Murray kids so instantly and thoroughly, I felt it important to extend their work in our district to include all kindergarten children and teachers. Their workshops are dynamic, joyful and fun for children and adults alike,” explained Jane Hoffman.

Rajeckas and Intraub have shared their stage with students of all ages for twenty-five years. Described as a modern day Laurel and Hardy act, their “imagination in motion” approach to drama and teaching began in a college mime class where they discovered their love of improvisation. They have performed and taught from coast to coast, at such cultural centers as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College in Sarasota, Florida, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Why are they so committed to teaching “The Three C’s”? “So much of our competence in life involves the ability to express ourselves clearly and confidently, to focus, understand and follow through on messages, and to interact with others in a positive, cooperative way,” Rajeckas asserted. “ The stage is a great place to practice these skills,” he continued.

And how does Mamaroneck stand in this team’s roster of graduates? “Our experience in Mamaroneck has been wonderful. Not only are the teachers and administrators responsive, but the parents do an outstanding job in making the arts part of a child’s educational experience. Neil and I have been working in arts-in-education for over 25 years, and we have never met such a dedicated group of parents looking out for their children’s interests,” confided Rajeckas. He quipped, “Teaching adults, though, is a lot harder than teaching kids. They have a lot more to learn/unlearn!”

The Mamaroneck Schools Foundation, founded seven years ago, is a volunteer non-profit community organization that provides schools with supplemental funds or innovative programs, materials and enhanced facilities and equipment beyond the regular school curriculum. MSF has awarded nearly $700,000 in grants to programs in every public school in the district. For more information, contact the Foundation at (914)-698-9079 or MSFoundation@mamkschools.org.

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