Richa gopal by Freestyle Academy

Center Stage Written and Designed by Richa Gopal

Dedication I'd like to dedicate this book to many people who helped make this possible. Youth Drama For All has not only opened my eyes but opened the community's eyes. I'd like to thank and dedicate this book to Stacy Rademacher and Sue Voiss for allowing me to document the theater group, and w ithout their permission this w ouldn't be possible. Special thank you to my design teacher Leslie Parkinson, english teacher Jason Greco, and Ms. K, and Matt Taylor film teachers. They have pushed me to be a better artist and go behind what the main idea is to get the untold story.

Table of Contents Page 2 Dedication and Acknowledgment Page 4 Table of Contents Page 7 Foreword Page 11 Introduction Page 10 Chapter 1 Page 16 Chapter 2 Page 20 Chapter 3 Page 24 Conclusion

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Foreword I have been involved w ith "Youth Drama For All" for three years and wanted to uncover the birth and untold story of the theater group. The purpose of my book is to show the Mountain View / Los Altos community what this program means for kids and their families. I found interviews w ith the directors to be the most informative and helpful, and the parents view to be the untold story. My most interesting discovery was when I interviewed a parent who shared how much the program has affected the parents in the community along w ith her son. And interview ing her son made the documentary even stronger! My growth in writing has skyrocketed compared to my earlier writing. Writing essays has never been a strength of mine until this unit. I learned to expand my ideas to make a fat, juicy paragraph! During my filming I encountered technical difficulties and learned to always test equipment before going into the interview. I also found that coming up w ith questions to ask the interviewee was way harder than I imagined it w ould be. However, I always managed to push through and look at the better side of a negative. Even though I'm not a volunteer in Youth Drama For All, I am a cast member. I always look forward to every rehearsals and w orking w ith the kids. Having this second family is more than I could ask for.

"One thing we have in common is our kids don't always fit in the other community opportunities for theater, arts for all kinds of things - so we're used to being a little bit on the outside looking in. What's really great about YDFA is we're on the inside watching our kids be on the inside, and its really cool," said Heidi Cartan, a parent of a child in YDFA.

Introduction When someone joins a group, they're looking to get something out of it. By joining the group I found that I wasn't the only one having trouble in school. When I was in second grade, school was hard to keep up w ith. I was full of energy, and I couldn't focus. My eyes were going from the book to the ceiling, a poster on the wall, different students, and to any noise I'd hear. My parents and teachers started to notice, so I got involved w ith the special education program at school. Everything began to make more sense as I took the time to understand. I have had one-on-one attention since then. Around eighth grade my mom told me that there was a theater group called Youth Drama For All (YDFA) and that their performance was on

the coming Saturday. Saturday came, and when my mom and I went to the entrance of the Springer Auditorium, we were greeted by tw o cast members handing out programs. They were extremely welcoming and excited. A s I sat and watched the play, I saw kids w ith different disabilities perform. It emotionally moved and inspired me to join. My first play w ith them was called "Do it Grand", followed by "New York, New York", "Alice In Wonderland", and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Each season has been more and more personally meaningful. I went from being one of the new members to part of the YDFA family. YDFA is a second family, another accepting and safe place. I gained experience out of joining the group.

Chapter 1: Birth Story Youth Drama For All is a place where kids w ith special needscan participate instead of sitting on the sideline. They are the stars of the show. But, why is it essential to have such a theater group? Is it w orth it to have a lot of money put into special education programs and not into the general education system? To have a place just for kids where they can feel included is vital for every kid. It's called "Youth Drama For All" for a reason. The most successful startups are the ones w ith a meaningful birth story. Youth Drama For All was not a program created by the school boards. Sue Voiss explains her daughter, Tessa's simple idea,"When my daughter was in fifth grade she brought home a flyer to join a drama group before school. She didn't want to do

it because her best friend didn't want to join. Her best friend was afraid that she w ould fall off the stage because she had mobility issues." Sue suggested that Tessa and her friend should perform the play at their house and call friends to come and watch. They ended up w ith 10 kids performing and 21 people in the audience. One of the audience members was Stacy Radamacher, who had her son Cole and her daughter Tatum join the follow ing year. Since the kids had a ball doing it, Stacy and Sue wanted to find a way to do it again the follow ing year. They took the idea to the Special Education PTA and received money to put on productions. Stacy soon came up w ith the idea of naming it Youth Drama For All. Sue can't believe how big the production has become since then.

Chapter 2: Inner Intelligence A lot of people can look at someone w ith a learning disability and assume they are not good enough to do something that "normal" people can. Doctors found that a having a disability isn't a bad thing: "A learning disability doesn't have anything to do w ith a person's intelligence. After all, successful people such as Walt Disney, Alexander Graham Bell, and W inston Churchill all had learning disabilities...Some schools develop what is called an Individualized Education Program (or IEP), which helps define a person's learning strengths and weaknesses and includes a plan for the learning activities that w ill help the student do his or her best in school." (Lyness). Haing an IEP helps a student w ith learning challenges get more one-on-one time w ith the teacher and more accommodations for assignments or projects.

For me I always have had a difficult time w ith reading and comprehension. Since I have had an IEP, I talked to my special resources teacher who suggested I go and discuss my issue w ith my English teacher. Later that day I told him I just didn't understand how to answer multiple-choice questions. In fact, I knew what the answer was, but the multiplechoices for answers became confused in my mind. From that point on my teacher and I do my English tests orally, and if I didn't have an IEP I don't think I'd find myself getting that beneficial accom-

modation. In addition to learning challenges, kids w ith autism and ADHD have issues w ith social skills. In "What Is Social Thinking?," Michelle Garicia W inner, a social thinking researcher, states, "Social thinking is what we do when we interact w ith people: we think about them. And how we think about people affects how we behave, which in turn affects how others respond to us, which in turn affects our own emotions....A treatment framew ork and curriculum [I] developed targets improving individual social thinking abilities, re-

gardless of diagnostic label. Professionals and parents alike are using these methods to build social thinking and related skills in students and adults." A theater group is a great way to improve social skills. However, in most theater groups, kids must audition for a role, and mobility issues and having disabilities don"t fit the checklist. In mainstream theater groups, the actors are supposed to be perfect and play their role. In YDFA there is no such thing as rejection; there is only acceptance. 17

Chapter 3: Growth Youth Drama For All has been going on for seven seasons. YDFA not only impacts kids but also their families. YDFA impacted Heidi Cartan "Oh my goodness, it's impacted me a lot cause Noah has never had a better time in his life being in YDFA, he looks forward to it. If it were up to him he'd have YDFA practice every day. So he completely loves it and he's actually pretty sad when its over." The last year when the play was over Noah struggled because he missed the other cast members. He got to see some people at school and some people around the community, but the fact that everybody was not gathered together anymore was hard for him. When kids w ith special needs lack an empathetic community, they have a greater chance of feeling singled out.

For instance, teenagers commonly use the w ord "retarded" to describe how their friends are acting. The definition of retarded is "Less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual for one's age." ("Retarded"). Teens do not realize it's very offensive to those who are actually challenged, which can damage their self esteem. This is one reason why the volunteers that joined don't just help the kids grow; the kids also help the volunteers grow, opening their eyes to see life through a different perspective. YDFA is making a difference, but we're waiting for a day when stereotypes regarding kids w ith special needs are changed. Inside there is a person w ith feelings who wants to be seen as equal to everyone else.

hey “T . id a s a h ic R ,” tcasts u o e lik l e e f ’t n o kids n io t a c “The kids d u d e lia c e p s lot of a t o N . ily m a f Youth e t a e r are lik a lly a n fi y e t – th h lig t o p s e h t in e Newell i c get to b a r T y b d e w ie terv Drama for All.” In

Conclusion: Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Wrap When someone joins a group, they're looking to get something out of it. Cole Rademacher has been in Youth Drama For All for 5 years. He is young and already sees how much it means to him, the community, and other kids: "Just to be w ith kids, and being w ith the group is fun. And being w ith people that are Autistic, or if they have Cerebral Palsy, it's just good to have a moment w ith someone that isn't normal than other people. And it's just fun to have an opportunity to meet them and just see what they're like." The program not only affects the parents but also the young kids. Giving them a place where they can be around others who are also having similar challenges provides a great support system. The most successful startups are the ones w ith a meaningful birth story; Youth Drama For All fits this definition because it is more than a theater group - it is a family.

Works Cited Rademacher, Cole, Personal Interview. 4 Feb 2014. Theresa. Personal Interview. 4 Feb 2014. Ford, Mercy. Personal Interview. 4 Feb 2014. Cartan, Heidi. Personal Interview. 4 Feb 2014. Voiss, Sue. Personal Interview. 24 Feb 2014. Rademacher,Stacy. Personal Interview. 24 Feb 2014. W inner, Michelle Garcia. "What Is Social Thinking?" Think Social P ublishing. 2012. Web. 18 March 2014. Lyness, D'Arcy. "Learning Disabilities" The Nemours Foundation. 1995 - 2014. Web. October 2013 Gutierrez, Andrea. "Parenting A Special Needs Child" Focus On The Family. 2009. Web. 2014. Retarded" Merriam - Webster Dictionary. Web. 2014.

Center Stage

Richa Gopal is a junior attending Freestyle Academy, where she studies Design, English, and F ilm. Since she was in kindergarten, art has been Richa's calling. Since she's joined Freestyle, she has taken art more seriously, and she knows where she's going in her future: art school. Richa has never seen herself as a writer until her junior year. Her topic for this project related so personally to her it was almost as if it was meant to be. Having ADHD and doing her project on special education hit home. A s she says, "It's so fun it doesn't even feel like w ork". The amount of support from Richa's brothers and parents couldn't have been more appreciated.

Richa Gopal

Center Stage

Written and Designed by Richa Gopal