TOPS K-8: Family Cultural Celebrations 2006
In the spring of 2006, two 8th grade Language Arts / Social Studies classes at TOPS K-8 worked with Jack Straw’s team of artists to develop radio theater pieces based on their family cultural celebrations.
Working with journalist Chana Joffe-Walt, students developed interview questions for their parents and other family members who have stories and details to share about their celebrations. Students then worked with Chana to develop their written pieces, including sensory details, and ideas about sounds that could enhance the audio versions of their pieces. Once their writing was complete, students worked with theater artists Amy Broomhall and Laurel Anne White to develop their skills as readers of their work.
Both classes then came to Jack Straw’s studios, where they worked with Amy and Laurel and audio engineers Scott Bartlett and Michele Khazak to record their voices, sounds, and music. Each participant received a CD of everyone’s work in a final celebration at the end of the project.
TOPS Family Cultural Celebrations was produced by Jack Straw Productions (now known as Jack Straw Cultural Center), with the generous support of the Starbucks Foundation, the Washington State Arts Commission Arts in Education Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, the TOPS PTSA, and individual contributors.
The Jack Straw team included journalist Chana Joffe-Walt, audio engineers Scott Bartlett and Michele Khazak, theater artists Amy Broomhall and Laurel Anne White, photographer Dean Wong, Executive Director Joan Rabinowitz, and Education Manager Kim Polster. Special thanks to TOPS teacher Tom O’Connor.
