Page 2: Best Buy Children's Foundation
working in two schools in lower Manhattan: P.S.3, the elementary school that housed the elementary school children that had to be evacuated from a school near Ground Zero on September 11th; and Murray Bergstraum High School located about 10 blocks from Ground Zero. These programs were funded by grants from The Harkness Foundation for Dance and The Laura Jane Musser Foundation in addition to Best Buy Childrenšs Foundation.
Murry Bergstraum High School
Avodah worked with two classes at the school, an eleventh grade English Class, and a tenth grade Conflict Resolution class. Ten sessions were held with the youth with the main theme being "how to keep your balance." The sessions culminated with each class performing for the other class. The school has expressed strong interest in continuing the program and in particular Debbie Larkin, the teacher for Conflict Resolution and JoAnne Tucker, Avodah's Artistic Director are exploring ways of directly incorporating movement into the curriculum to enrich the Murry Bergstraum Conflict Resolution Curriculum and how Conflict Mediation is done at the school. Plans also call for sharing the curriculum with other Conflict Meditation teachers in Manhattan.
P.S. 3 Elementary School
Avodah worked with two different 2nd and 3rd grade combined classes. The children explored different qualities of movement, expressed emotion through movement, echoed rhythmic and movement patterns and created a lovely story in dance. Consultant storyteller, Regina Ress, selected a story about a King needing to choose between two pictures representing peace. The story describes two pictures, one of a peaceful lake and the other of a storm with a waterfall and a mother bird sheltering a baby bird in a nest behind the waterfall. The King chose the later picture as depicting peace and this was a good metaphor for the role the school had played on September 11th by providing a safe shelter for elementary school children evacuated from their school close to Ground Zero. Evaluations from the teachers strongly indicated their desire to have Avodah return and continue working as a dance company in residence at the School.