Yes!!! I am trully enjoying “Stockton”. No doubt, it’s always a blast meeting up with the crew: Dana, Laura G., Goodrich, and Soszko over at “Angel Food” and ordering my usual English Muffin; but there’s nothing like walking into the classes every week and seeing the excitement on the kids faces. Not to tip my hat, but I think we have a few Barrel of Monkeys’ Instant Classics on our hands. Good times indeed. I can’t wait for the show. Talks to ya….

brad

The Columbia Explorers show is tomorrow morning, and today our dedicated cast is reviewing their lines and practicing their dance moves. Yesterday was the last of our six rehearsals. The BOM adaptation and rehearsal process is fast and furious, and can leave us feeling a little crazy at times:

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As I mentioned previously, the teaching team for this residency tried out some new additions to the usual BOM curriculum. Week 3, normally True Story Day, became a day to explore characters and settings that the kids were most familiar with: those around their school and homes. We brainstormed people, places, and things that the kids encountered on a daily basis in their neighborhood: teachers, friends, family members; Pete’s Market, Dulcelandia, McKinley Park; trains, trees, and graffiti. We brainstormed “what if” scenarios: what if aliens landed in McKinley Park? What if the Kedzie stop on the Orange Line was overrun with zoo animals? Then, in the usual fashion, the kids wrote and performed group stories utilizing these elements, and had time for individual writing.

This exercise inspired stories such as “The Magical Place,” by Dulce H., where she finds a hidden room inside the local McDonald’s, full of “all the things a girl could want.”

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Rehearsals for the Columbia Explorers show started yesterday. I’m very excited about the show. This residency was a blast, but I wouldn’t expect any less from the kids at this school. The four-class residency was split between two days per week, with myself and volunteer Mariah on Tuesdays, Kate and volunteer Mani on Wednesdays, and rockstars Ricky, Jason, and Sarah teaching both days.

Barrel of Monkeys has been teaching at Columbia Explorers Academy for years, since back when it was called Davis-Shields Elementary, and is the birthplace of “That’s Weird, Grandma” favorites Cereal Story and Untitled (Astronauts).

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During the past weeks I have found myself, in everyday conversations, regularly quoting and retelling stories that our Trumbull students wrote. Just yesterday I was reminded of one of the sweetest stories I’ve read in a long time—a story about Larry the Ant by Yekeen. In this true story, Yekeen tells about the time he had a pet ant named Larry. He fed him lettuce and kept him in his room. Unfortunately, Larry was sick and didn’t live very long. But he lives on in Yekeen’s heart, forever and ever.

Kids have a way of saying so much with so little. It might be one of my favorite things about teaching with Barrel of Monkeys. Every time I leave a residency I realize how much I can learn from each 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th grader.

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Six weeks ago we started at a new school.  Although this was the first time Dixie, Sam, Jen, Rachel, Brad and I had walked through the front doors armed with paper, markers and over 60 fresh Barrel of Monkeys Journals, it was a school we’d all seen many times.  Close to many of our homes, even in the same zip-code as some of our mail, right across from The Neo-Futurarium, the theater we’ve been running That’s Weird, Grandma in for over 5 years! 

Yes that’s right I’m talking about Trumbull School. The school stands four stories high with four architecturally historic wrought iron staircases that over 500 children scale and descend everyday with the sound of a bell.

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