The Christ Child Society of Toledo’s Theatre Vision program provides funds for the theater tickets and transportation for students and teachers in grades one and two at the four Partners in Learning Schools to attend the Gretchen A. Zyndorf School Days Educational Theatre Series at the Valentine Theatre. This program enables the teachers and the CCS volunteers to integrate the theater experience into classroom curriculum with a fun visit by CCS members to each classroom prior to the live theater performance. For most students, this will be their first live theater performance. The member volunteers enjoy personal contact with the students and the students enjoy the personal contact with the members. Many also volunteer time tutoring and operating the libraries at these four schools.
The four Partners in Learning Schools are: Gesu Elementary School, Cathedral Elementary School, Hope Learning Academy and Queen of Apostles Elementary School, all located in Toledo.
This year’s School Days was a live performance of “Dot Dot Dot,” a new musical by Keelay Gipson and Sam Salmond, based on the Peter H. Reynolds book, “Dot.”
More than 100 students were part of this year’s Theatre Vision’s classroom visits and theater performance, that took place on April 11.
The live performances always have a lesson behind the story line. “Dot Dot Dot” told the story of a student who thought that she didn’t have any artistic abilities. Her teacher encouraged her to start by drawing one dot on a piece of paper. Her confidence and artistic ability grew from there in a musical performance that the students enjoyed.
