Shake It Up After School! : Whittier Elementary School

Welcome To Whittier!

We are excited to welcome you to the second year of the program!

This year at Whittier, the directors are Natashia Sylvia and Makenzi Burks assisted by Dynisha Smith who is serving as the communication director. Before we begin to focus on Henry V, we would like to introduce ourselves to you!

The directors this year at Whittier are Natashia Sylvia and Makenzi Burks. Both fell in love with the program after their experiences with SIUAS last year as student volunteers. We are pursuing degrees in English Education at Boise State University and share a passion for encouraging kids to be lifetime learners. We can’t wait to spend the next six weeks getting to know the students of Whittier and teaching them about Henry V.

Makenzi

Natashia

Dynisha Smith: This is my second year with the program and I am excited to be bringing it back to Whittier! Personally, I see the value in the program, not only for the elementary students, but for the BSU students, the leadership team and the community as a whole. Kids who read have a wider imagination, a wider vocabulary and the capacity to dream bigger - and my passion in life is to instill a sense of wonder into our youth. As communications director, my role will be to assist in the daily emails, texts and phone calls so that the volume of questions and concerns on the directors shoulders is low! I will also be the main contributor to this blog! Feel free to get in touch with me through email at any time and I will get back to you within 24 hours! I look forward to working with you and bringing you another amazing year of Shakespeare! (dynishasmith@u.boisestate.edu)

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Our Clique!

We got our BSU students! Your crew at Whittier will be: Arthur, Rebecca, Katie, Alyson, Justin, Kelsey, and Jamee! We are so excited to be working together for the coming weeks! Look out for bios on these cool kids, coming soon!

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Week One! (March 11 - 14)

This week we are casting! We will be playing games, introducing ourselves and then doing some hardcore auditioning! Not auditioning in the traditional sense; we will be running lines, doing some theater exercises and really getting the kids out of their shells to see which part they will fit best in.

**How you can help at home**: Make sure that your child's forms are signed and turned into a director (Natashia or Makenzi).

Week Two! (March 18-21)

This week we announced the casting! The parts are as follows:

Bree – Chorus & Nell

Salma – Governor & French Queen

Tyler – Exeter

Jarin – Pistol & Bedford/York

Aubree – French King & Nym

Abby – Gower & Ely

Daquan – Cambridge & Bates

Caiden – Dauphin

Gabby – Orleans & Grandpre/bretagne & Glocuseter & Salisbury

Rachel – Katherine

Sydney – Bardolf & Constable

Corrine – Scroop & Williams

Leo – Montjoy / messenger/ambassador

Elissa – Alice

Thomas – Henry

Malaki – Fluellen & Canterbury

Angela – Court & Grey

Jacob – Rambures/Burgendy/Burbon & Erpingham & Westmoreland

We are so excited! This week we did a read through of the script so that every kid could understand the play!

How you can help at home: make sure that your child is doing their activity sheets and listening to their CD's. If you have time please make sure that you are helping them read their lines!!

Week Three! (April 1-4)

This week we will continue to work on memorization and blocking. Your kids will be learning terms about the stage ( upstage left, right and center, downstage left right and center and center stage, left and right center) and they will be working on character motivations.

BSU Student Spotlight!

Justin: is a communication and English major with an emphasis in journalism! His favorite part of Shake It Up is working with the kids and listening to all of the funny things that they say!

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Week Four (April 8 - 11)

This week the kid's were challenged to be off book which means that they had all of their lines memorized. The kids worked really hard over the last week and weekend and are almost there! They will be tested on Wednesday! They will also be working on scene choreography and exits and entrances!

How you can help at home: Practice the lines with your child, making sure they know the cue before their line so that they know when to come in on-stage!

Arthur is a theater major with an emphasis in stage management. His favorite part of SIU is the honesty of the kids. Kids really do say the darnedest things!

Week 5! (April 15-18)

This week we are doing all kinds of pre-production things! We tried on costumes, we worked on cues, and we also did a lot of scene choreography! The kids worked on adding actions and emotions to the lines they worked hard to memorize! It is VITAL that your child is here everyday from here until the performances.

Ms. Natashia giving us our assignments for the day!

How you can help at home: keep encouraging your child to work on the scene choreography Where should they be on stage when they are saying their lines? What kind of actions and emotions is their character feeling during this scene? Also, please make sure your child is at Shake It Up every day so that they can be successful throughout the rest of the program!!

BSU STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Aly!

Week 6! Production and Performance Week! (April 22-26)

This week the directors will be having the actors run through the play in its entirety. We will be going over lines, scene choreography and all of the magic that makes a production POP fo the audience! Wednesday and Thursday will be full dress rehearsals - they will be in costume and be using their props!

Our performances are on Friday April 26th at 2 pm and 6 pm. The kids will be pulled out of class around 1 in order to get into costume and make-up, will give the performance for their peers and then we will hang out and eat, play some games and gear up for the next performance! If you have any questions, feel free to contact a director! We are so excited for you to see the finished product, and for the kids to give their performances! See you on Friday!

Ladies and Gentlemen...The End!

This is the end folks! We are so proud of the kids performances on Friday both in front of their peers and in front of their parents! We hope to see you again next year, but until then enjoy these photos!!