\n<\/p>\n
Speak with Atlas, Eli and Elsa, all students at Sequoyah School in Pasadena, California and you quickly realize that \u201cteenage voice\u201d is more than a high school buzz phrase.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s obvious from my first five minutes with these juniors that there is something exciting and important brewing here.\u00a0\u00a0And I\u2019m going to listen. Not just to be educated about Sequoyah\u2019s Social Innovation Program (SIP) or to simply toss around Safe Stages, their developing Theater Impact Project, that intersects the issues of mental health, academics and creativity. Currently, these three are attempting to develop and implement solutions into the regular curriculum as it pertains to these critical issues.<\/p>\n
As Atlas, Eli, Elsa and myself sit together at a\u00a0table in Sequoyah\u2019s high school courtyard\u00a0one afternoon, we converse about their collective vision, intentions, expectations, and experiences through their Safe Stages SIP project.\u00a0\u00a0Each student\u2019s smart, forward-thinking ideas speak to their incredible capabilities and extraordinary common sense. The discussion also highlights the unique developmental programming that Sequoyah offers.\u00a0\u00a0It also dramatically reflects the up-level, critical thinking the students are engaging in.<\/p>\n
Of course, throughout the talk I was catching up on culture through their eyes, ears and dialogues.\u00a0\u00a0And, of course, they are still teenagers.\u00a0\u00a0But what they had to say definitely changed my perspective about how strong a high schooler\u2019s voice can be and why it\u2019s important to seriously listen.<\/p>\n
What do they want?\u00a0\u00a0Well, that was kind of a challenge to explain.\u00a0\u00a0There was definitely an arc to the conversation.\u00a0\u00a0Each one of these students was so \u201cteen awesome\u201d I decided to keep their words intact and let them speak for themselves.\u00a0\u00a0(The piece is lightly edited for clarity.)<\/p>\n
The mission of\u00a0SIP, as described on its\u00a0website<\/a>, is \u201cto help students hone the design thinking aptitudes and changemaking attitudes needed to challenge both emerging and entrenched social and environmental issues\u2026 [To build real-world skills] through developing long-term relationships with people \u2013 both the empowered and systematically disempowered.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And ultimately create sustainable change.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> I was reading a little bit about what you did. You\u2019re part of the\u00a0Sequoyah\u00a0Social Innovation Program. You\u2019re currently in the Impact Project stage. What does that mean?<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> So, I guess it\u2019s easier here if we sort of distinguish what the lead up to it is. So ninth and tenth grade, you\u2019re in a larger group, usually 10 to 15 people working on a larger goal. And it\u2019s more research based. And then in 11th grade, you split off into groups of one to three people and you\u2019re working on something that\u2019s a little more sort of product-based. You\u2019re still doing that research and still making those connections. But it\u2019s a more specific and larger end goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> I think the Social Innovation Program is something that\u2019s pretty unique to\u00a0Sequoyah\u00a0and what you research depends on what group you\u2019re in. In ninth and tenth grade, there are a wide range of topics that are mostly designed around the\u00a0Sustainable Development Goals<\/a>that were put out by the UN, and they\u2019re kind of tailored to focus around local issues to Pasadena. So last year, Atlas and I were in a group around LGBTQ elders and that was in our tenth grade year. So, we\u2019re working on that.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> That\u2019s not a small project.<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> No, it\u2019s not. But it\u2019s smaller than gender, which was ours the previous year.<\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> I was in water safety and capture. What we focused mostly on was water reuse and recycling water. Basically, taking old used water and reusing it for things that don\u2019t need totally clean first-use water. And then my ninth grade project, I was in Zero Hunger.\u00a0\u00a0What we did is we organized several food drives and went to local food banks. And then we talked to the people that organized them and asked them about their process.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> I was also reading that you call yourselves Social Entrepreneurs. So how did this come about as your Theater Impact project, Safe Stages? How does what you\u2019re doing translate into theater?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> Well, in the beginning of this year, we brainstormed ideas for projects we wanted to focus on for the rest of the year and potentially the rest of our high school career should we choose to keep on doing our project in 12th grade. When we were split into smaller groups and brainstormed ideas, Atlas and I found that we had a bunch of similar ideas.<\/p>\n After we presented in front of the whole grade later on, a form was sent out to ask people whether they wanted to join one of the two groups that were presented, stay in their own group, or do something else. That\u2019s when Eli joined our group. And that\u2019s where the theater came in.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> What were some of the other ideas that you tossed around?<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> I definitely wanted to focus on mental health. It\u2019s something that I\u2019ve been thinking about for all of SIP. And Eli as well, as we\u2019d been in the same SIP pods by coincidence in ninth and tenth grade.\u00a0\u00a0So, I wanted to focus on mental health and I knew that I was passionate about that. I was like, what else am I passionate about?\u00a0\u00a0Queer studies, theater, school,\u00a0et cetera<\/em>. And so, I was thinking like, how can we help young people connect with older people? Or how can we help queer teens make sure that their mental health is being prioritized? \u00a0And the thing that I landed on, that I was most passionate about, was the mental health of people in high school like myself who love theater.<\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> I think like Atlas said, in our tenth grade SIP, we worked on a documentary with a college professor about like queer connection throughout generations. And mental health actually came up in that a lot to do with like loneliness and lack of connection and just like general fear struggles. So, I think that really helped us get interested in mental health. And then applying it to theater was a logical next step. \u2018Cause we\u2019re all involved in the theater productions at\u00a0Sequoyah\u00a0in some way. So, it was just like finding two things that we\u2019re both pretty passionate about and merging them together.<\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> My past at projects didn\u2019t have much to do with health at all. What made me choose to focus more on the mental health side of the theater is I was fresh out of CSSSA\u00a0at the end of at the beginning of this year. That\u2019s the\u00a0California State Summer School for the Arts<\/a>, an intensive month-long program. We stay in dorms and we go to classes every day. It\u2019s multidisciplinary, so you can choose. You can focus on theater, on visual arts, animation, writing, film\u2026<\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> Dance\u2026<\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> And I noticed among my studio group, whenever we talked about theater, the conversation always drifted a little bit towards mental health. How it had potentially affected our mental health. Whether it be why we were just so stressed or like it\u2019s just a lot of anxiety. And like it\u2019s an anxiety inducing process when you have so much other work going on for academics, because it isn\u2019t separated that much. And also, with high school theater, everything\u2019s a little bit more on a time crunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> Listening to you all of you, the dialogue in my head is something like\u2026 for me as a teen, there were so many things that were normalized. Stress wasn\u2019t even a word we used. But you all have a bigger vocabulary than somebody from my generation in terms of talking about how you feel. How you\u2019re being affected by everything that you do, your environments, your relationships. And, you know, gender is such a big issue these days. I mean, I feel like there is so much compounding on top of your generation of people. I\u2019m not sure how you do it. Because I find that it\u2019s extremely complex. So, I\u2019m just wondering how you each individually navigate on your own?<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> I mean, I feel like the phrase that sort of latched on in my mind was how do you navigate on your own? And I think that for me at least, I like, I don\u2019t navigate on my own.\u00a0\u00a0And I think that, especially at Sequoyah, but also like in general, I try to surround myself with people who I can work with, who I can bounce ideas off, who I can, like, create things with, and just like make it easier for everyone to navigate things, to be able to ask for help. \u00a0 I think that\u2019s genuinely one of the most important things to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> Do you just stick to your own group?\u00a0\u00a0I mean, especially in high school, we all kind of go to our like-minded people or like-feeling people.\u00a0\u00a0Or do you try to bring others in?<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> Yeah, I mean, I feel like I try to bring people in like I know myself. I know that I make mistakes and there are certain underlying biases. But I also think that different perspectives and opinions make some of the most interesting conversations.\u00a0 Like, I have friends who we barely talk about certain topics because they\u2019re just so polarizing for our friendship. But then, like, when we do talk about them, we\u2019re able, because of that connection that we have, we\u2019re able to talk about them in a much more mature, calm way.\u00a0 And I think that is something that everyone should be able to do. And I\u2019m very glad that I am in some capacity able to do that.<\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> I think, you know, this world with all the things that we have to navigate is the only one that we\u2019ve ever been a part of. So, it can feel like a lot. But that\u2019s also kind of all we know being in high school and being involved in all the things we are involved in. So, I personally try to take the path of what can we make easier for ourselves?\u00a0 And I think one of those things is, if we can reduce stress in one area, then that\u2019s a good thing to do. And you know, if we can reduce stress in theater, which is a way that we express ourselves, express our creativity, we can make that a more overall positive experience rather than something that we\u2019d love to do but find hard to do because of certain barriers or certain stressors.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> What kind of barriers?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> We\u2019ve been talking about this a lot. We\u2019ve interviewed a number of different people. The one that came to mind for us personally right away was the time commitment that theater takes up.\u00a0\u00a0So, for us in our school, theater is built into our elective block, which is at the end of the day. <\/p>\n It\u2019s 45 minutes long, which is not enough time for a rehearsal. Especially when you\u2019re working on a musical. So, we end up every day staying till 4:30. We have two hours of rehearsal and that\u2019s eight hours of rehearsal per week, which still isn\u2019t quite enough when you only have ten weeks or sometimes even eight or nine weeks of rehearsal.\u00a0\u00a0The time commitment mixed in with other school commitments and other outside activity commitments is a lot. <\/p>\n But as we\u2019ve explored this issue, we\u2019ve also realized that another factor is emotional \u2013 how much theater takes from a person emotionally.\u00a0\u00a0It takes a big emotional toll because you\u2019re spending all day inhabiting a character and trying to dig deep into that character and trying to make really meaningful art.\u00a0\u00a0But then having to go home and write your history paper after that can be pretty challenging. Or having to go home and study for your math quiz can feel like a real disconnect.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> It seems like it needs to be very compartmentalized for you. And I imagine that\u2019s a way that you manage the time commitments. But how does that affect your creativity? \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> I talk about this so much. I came from another school. And homework wasn\u2019t a big thing. Like if we ever did have homework, it only took about like 20 minutes. Even less, maybe because it was a lot of vocab tests, learning definitions of words and spelling tests. And I felt so creative in that time because I got to explore different things. And then I came [to Sequoyah] and it was such a big jump because we were given like 20 pages of reading every night and we\u2019d have to do this big\u00a0MLA format<\/a>\u00a0writing assignment at the end of every two weeks. And then there was so much math homework every day. And that was such a big shift for me. I hadn\u2019t really been trained in that. <\/p>\n I do think\u00a0Sequoyah\u00a0has given me skills that I definitely would have struggled with later on had I stayed in that [other] environment. But I did notice a decline in my creativity. I felt a lot less inspired and I have more trouble coming up by the ideas.\u00a0\u00a0When the things that I enjoyed that kept me motivated in my classes became such an out of school requirement, it made me kind of not have any opportunity to figure out myself, outside of school.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> That\u2019s a stress in itself even though it\u2019s a requirement. So, do you call yourselves a pod or what do you call your group, the three of you?<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> Technically we are a like a \u201cteam\u201d I think is the word they use. And then our team is within a larger [SIP] pod which is like five or six other teams of one to three people. And then Kevin Delin, the school\u2019s physics teacher, is also our SIP Advisor who sort of manages our pod.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> You each have so much on your plate. You\u2019re being creative. You\u2019re doing social justice. And, you\u2019re just normal students dealing with all the same things as your peers.\u00a0\u00a0And you\u2019re also creating a program where you do this sort of peer-to-peer, counseling? Is that the right word?<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> Almost.\u00a0\u00a0We want to have a space for people to be able to honestly share with someone who can like come up with solutions for them. Or just hear them and just be there for whatever they need. You know, I think something that\u2019s stressful about theater, especially in school, is it\u2019s a very actor and director [driven] relationship that goes hand-in-hand with the student and teacher relationship. And it can be super hard for students to feel like they can talk to a teacher and for actors to feel like they can talk to a director. So, we want to help bridge that gap by having students have good relationships with the director and that can be a conduit for ideas.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> How do you create those relationships and conversations, peer-to-peer?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> I feel like within our group there are some days where like, it\u2019s a Friday afternoon. It\u2019s been a long week and we\u2019re just like one of us is exhausted. The other two will sometimes like, pick up that slack, or say, \u201cHey we\u2019re here if you need help\u201d. And we\u2019re all friends and we were friends before this and so I think it\u2019s easier for us to communicate, \u201cI\u2019m really tired but I have a massive project due on Monday.\u201d And so, we try to communicate as much as possible.<\/p>\n Tracey:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong> Well, give me an example of the conversation around someone who says, \u201cI\u2019m really feeling stressed, I\u2019m feeling so under pressure, I don\u2019t know what to do. I\u2019m frozen.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> I think I\u2019d start it by kind of unpacking what exactly the stress is because you know we\u2019ve talked about compartmentalizing things for time. But also compartmentalizing things so you can really focus on one aspect of what you\u2019re stressed about. It can help. <\/p>\n So, you know, if you\u2019ve got a math quiz and a science project and an essay due all at the same time, you know, I\u2019d say, \u201cLet\u2019s go through them one by one. Can you get an extension on your essay? Can I help you study for your quiz?\u201d\u00a0 And I think tackling things one at a time is really helpful to be able to look at the big picture and say, \u201cOh look, I actually accomplished something.\u201d Because when something is so big and staring you in the face, it can be really overwhelming and really hard to know where to start. So, breaking it down I think is a good first step.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> As part of the program, are you expected to write about your process and create data points?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> We have this app. It\u2019s like an academic Instagram. So, every time we have an interview or we go somewhere or basically anything that\u2019s related to a SIP project, we make a post on there. We include a few photos. We write a summary. We choose a few categories about what we\u2019re focusing on for that, whether it\u2019s defining problems, perspectives, nurturing solutions or collaboration. Then learning outcomes, which is what we\u2019re graded on. Also, things that help us focus what we\u2019re doing that day. That\u2019s kind of our timeline. From there you can either build a moment which is the post, or create a journey to connect all your posts. And then they all line up.<\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> And that\u2019s really our inward facing kind of progress tracker. That\u2019s available for everyone in our grade. And we can all look at each other\u2019s and give people thumbs up and comment on what they\u2019re doing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> Kind of like an early Facebook\u2026?<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> Yeah. And then on the outward facing edge, we have websites. Those are our official journals of our process.\u00a0\u00a0If you look at any of ours, we have different pages about who we\u2019ve interviewed and our progress points and our proof of concept. And then, specifically for us, what we want to implement is a recurring program at our school in the theater program, which would provide a specific position for one student to be a student-faculty liaison between the cast and the director. And that would be a position that happens every single year for every single show \u2013 and it would probably be a student who wasn\u2019t a member of the cast.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> Like having an Equity rep\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Eli, Atlas, Elsa:<\/strong> Exactly. Yeah.<\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> We talked to Brett Webster at CTG (Center Theatre Group<\/a>) and he told us all about all of the Equity reps that worked, especially with the children who were doing \u201cA Christmas Story\u201d at that point. And we were, like, \u201cthat sounds great.\u201d We were in their practice rooms while they were rehearsing.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> Tell me what you love about doing this.<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> I feel that SIP, in general, is an awesome program. And I think a part of that is the connections that you build even with your other classmates. Like having done SIP with Eli for the past three years, and seeing him and other people every week, building something and learning something together I think is one of the most engaging and gratifying things for me at least.\u00a0\u00a0As well as just talking about an issue that you care about. Because there is a degree of choice as to what SIP group you get put in. And focusing on an issue that you really care about and that you can engage with is, I think, super fulfilling.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> So, you get to go full throttle on these issues in these groups\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Atlas:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah. And it\u2019s one of the few things that runs throughout the year. It even goes a whole month after the regular classes have ended at the end of the year.<\/p>\n Tracey:\u00a0<\/strong>Now that you all have created this theater project, will you stick with it or move on to a different subject, for instance?<\/em><\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> Yeah, in ninth and tenth grade you have to do different projects. But 11th grade is when you begin to create your own. Then you can choose to either carry on that project through 12th grade or you can come up with a new idea in 12th grade, although that\u2019s strongly not recommended. Or you can do an internship<\/a> with either a company or an organization that follows your interests to help you build that experience.<\/p>\n Ninth and tenth grade is all about learning how to reach out to people and how to draft a formal e-mail; how to be respectful; how to interview. One of the assignments is how to make an interview Zine and then when it comes to the final two years of high school, it\u2019s more about actually doing stuff.\u00a0\u00a0Then you can either choose to carry it on or place it in a more real world [scenario].\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> If you were going into the world today, what would you do? Based on your theater project and what you\u2019re passionate about?<\/em><\/p>\n Elsa:<\/strong> I\u2019m really passionate about the sciences and acting. Something I\u2019ve always wanted to do is forensic sciences. I just think it\u2019s heavy, but I think it\u2019s cool. And I think I would do pretty well. And then, on the whole other side, is acting. I love acting. I feel like these past few years I\u2019ve been able to really dig deep and really become more in tune with myself and really learn how to fully express things. So, I would love to pursue that.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s a feeder company,\u00a0Lineage Performing Arts Center<\/a>, which is connected to the school through internships. I would love to go work with them. I\u2019ve also always wanted to have my own theater company at some point or a little space. My friends\u2019 parents had a theater space called\u00a0Bootleg Theater<\/a>\u00a0and it was really cool. I loved going there and helping out.\u00a0<\/p>\n I feel like Lineage is another place to dig deeper, to gain more knowledge in a more active role than I did when I was a lot younger and just hanging out. If I ever end up actually creating my own theater company and leading that, then I could always take this information and the Sequoyah experience to implement my own norms that I create in that space.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eli:\u00a0<\/strong>I think I\u2019d do a green internship. We call them \u201cinternSIPs.\u201d<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> I like that.<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> I\u2019m a big fan of puns as these two will let you know. Because we\u2019ve worked with CTG and we\u2019ve talked to them through this project, I think an internSIP at CTG would be awesome. There are a lot of logistics, like you have to be able to get there every day.\u00a0\u00a0And it\u2019s in downtown, so it would be a difficult internSIP. But I think that would be a place that I\u2019d love to get a really deep understanding of professional theater. I think that would be an awesome opportunity.<\/p>\n Tracey:<\/strong> The process behind the scenes or the process on the stage?<\/em><\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> Probably the process behind the scenes.\u00a0\u00a0We went into their little office right across from the Ahamanson and the Mark Taper forum and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion where they make all the big decisions.\u00a0\u00a0So, you know, just like providing our services to them in whatever cool way they need.<\/p>\n Atlas:<\/strong> Yeah, I mean, my answer is very similar to Elsa\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve worked with Lineage a little bit.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve done some volunteering for them and I just love everyone there.\u00a0\u00a0They\u2019re all super friendly and I think realistically that\u2019s probably what I will do next year.\u00a0\u00a0But also, there are a bunch of other really cool community theater programs like the Independent Shakespeare Company (ISC). I\u2019ve been on their mailing list for ages and because of school, travel,\u00a0et cetera<\/em>, I\u2019ve never been able to participate in one of their volunteer programs or one of their internship programs. And, I think if I could pick anyone to work with, it would either be Lineage or the ISC.\u00a0<\/p>\n Eli:<\/strong> I mean, I think beyond that, like high school theater is high school theater. But high school theater is also art. And we\u2019re making art. And you know, that\u2019s not something that should be sacrificed because we also have six hours of school a day. So, whatever we can do to create the best art is what we should do. Because we\u2019re artists.<\/p>\n Tracey Paleo is a voting member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and the Editor-in-Chief of Gia On The Move.\u00a0\u00a0She previously served as Editor at FootLights Publishing.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n