Update from Go Girls Afterschool Club | Girls Interpret Peace
I am incredibly excited about what’s going on in Go Girls. We are just past the halfway point in our first ever Go Girls Afterschool Club, an afterschool class modeled after the popular summer camp, and I could not be happier. Many of the girls in the class are returning campers from the summer and a few of the girls have been with Glitter & Razz programs for a long time now. Our lifers…the Glitter & Razz All-Stars, if you will. So, this program is definitely Glitter & Raz 2.0.
On the first day, I told them that we were going to create a play about something important. Through a variety of games and exercises, we explored which problems in the world were most important to them. The big three were friendship problems (like friends getting other friends in trouble or not being allowed to play), natural disasters (like floods and tsunamis) and violence (war, guns, car crashes, robberies). After a great, and quite reflective conversation, the group determined that it was most interested in using our play to help reduce violence.
I thought, “Okay…the best way to reduce violence is to make and spread peace.” So, one of the first things we did was a journal activity where they had to write or draw what peace looked, sounded, smelled, tasted, and felt like. Then, they were asked to create solo performance pieces based on their journal entries. Remember, these girls are 7-10 years old. Incredible. Here are 2 from a couple of the Glitter & Razz All Stars.
Sarah, age 9, did hers as a poem. In case it’s difficult to hear, the transcript is below:
Peace looks like a friendship just beginning
Peace sounds like silence in a dark room
Peace tastes sweet like ice cream
Peace smells like roses fresh off a rose bush
Peace feels soft like a lamb’s ear
And here’s a different interpretation on what Peace looks, sounds, and feels like as created by Lucy, age 8. A whole different take on the exercise.
