Haley Shaw, a senior at Atlanta’s St. Pius X, ticks off the benefits that acting has brought to her life: greater confidence, better writing skills, a lot of fun. A seven-year veteran of the theater (she started doing plays in middle school), Shaw counts herself fortunate to have attended schools that have nurtured her love of acting. Now she is trying to spread the love to other students. To earn her Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, Shaw has developed a drama club curriculum kit, which includes everything from a diagram of a stage to an improv game that requires students to golf on the moon. Her hope is that elementary and middle school students who don’t have much in the way of fine arts will use the kit to start their own drama clubs.
Q: How did you get involved in acting?
A: The only other thing I did in middle school was basketball but I am extremely short and sports are really not my thing. When I started high school, I met the drama teacher and we worked really well together. I love performing, love anything on a stage. I also enjoy pubic speaking and singing.
Q: How many plays have you acted in and what are your favorites?
A: I've been in 10 shows, seven in high school, three in middle school. My favorite play is "The Butler Did It, Again." I played a mystery writer, Laura Carlyle. Favorite musical is "Guys and Dolls," and I played the lead, Sarah Brown.
Q: You like an audience?
A: I do.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for the theater curriculum kit?
A: For Girl Scouts, I had to pick something that I felt would improve my community. I was really shy before I started doing drama and acting has really helped me. I firmly believe that it makes you more confident, a better speaker, a better writer. It has been proven time and time again that the arts help with academics. I have never been in the public school system but I have friends who are and some don't have access to theater because of funding. Although I couldn't change the in-school issues, I decided to try something else. I thought students in elementary or middle school could start an afterschool club and decided to put together the drama club curriculum kit.
Q: Can you talk about the materials?
A: The kit is written conversationally so kids can read it themselves and learn. It has basic information on stage direction. There is information and tips and warm-ups on theater acting and improv acting. There are 25 improv games with different scenes or activities, which is what you do in improv and why it is a great thing to base a drama club on. You can play the games over and over again but the material will never be the same.
Q: Which do you prefer, theater or improv acting?
A: I love improv. First of all, I love comedy. With improv, you have to think on your feet. Each scene is a different experience and that has helped me think about things in different ways. It has helped me a lot with my writing and conversation.
Q: What is going on with the kit now?
A: I sent it off to the fine arts directors of the DeKalb County and Fulton County school systems. My hope is that a few schools will take on starting a drama club and that it will spread.
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