Play Writing with Teens

Like every subject I am interested in I just discovered there is a confusing number of website related to play writing and teens. I thought I was feeling rusty when I facilitated a creative writing workshop for teens this winter. Hadn't worked with that age group for several years. Now I have been asked and agreed to work with a group of teens who will create a stage production for the entertainment of children in their local libraries summer reading program. I am an old teacher. I am a published writer. I have edited a variety of writing projects including plays and truthfully I used to think myself quite the thespian when I would stage, write and direct my younger brothers and cousins through productions based on my favorite comic strips. But, I still felt I needed a little guidance on this project.

Still confined to the house 90% of the time as caregiver to my elderly and ill mother, I naturally looked to the Internet for my research. Again, I am reminded of the Tower of Babel (see my blog post titled Babel, February 7, 2007 ). So, please, old teachers and active writers, which source of guidance would you suggest for assisting teens in structuring a play?
Copyright © 2007 by Martie LaCasse

Two Gals with Heart in Mississippi

This morning I happened to catch the story of a beautiful grassroots effort of giving on the Sunday morning T.V. Show on the Hallmark Channel, titled Naomi's New Morning. Naomi Judd is the hostess.

Two women Annie Card and Tammy Agard ventured to the Gulf Coast from different areas of the country to volunteer their time to assist victims of the Gulf Coast Hurricanes of 2005. They met by chance while working with the Red Cross in Mississippi and found that they were experiencing a similar gift from giving their time and energy to the victims and felt a similar drive to do more. They founded Mississippi Home Again, a non-profit project through which they supply families with appliances and furniture.

Their story is so inspiring, their effort so needed that I am recommending to BelleCora Press & Workshops that a portion of the funds we raise in 2007 for the victims of the 2005 Hurricane's go to their project. More about BelleCora's fundraising project.

Getting homes cleaned and repaired or finding new ones to buy or rent is only a part of the battle for the thousands of families still homeless or struggling financially as a result of the 2005 hurricanes. Replacing appliances and furnishings that were destroyed or lost is a financial burden most families can't yet deal with. Yet, how do you feed a family, do their laundry without a stove, refrigeration, hot water, etc. Mississippi Home Again is filling that gap. Using donated funds to purchase, deliver and install the basics to the homes of newly resettled victims. Go to their website and read about this unique project.
Copyright © 2007 by Martie LaCasse

Victims of 2005 Gulf Hurricanes

I know it seems like an old tired subject. Apparently, the president thought so when he didn't address it in his state of the union message. I am still seeing astonishing images in my mind by reading the statistics of recovery coming out of the Gulf Coast area. Try picturing these!

When the Brookings Institute published it's statistics of economic indicators regarding the recovery from Hurricane Katrina this January, reflecting December 2006, I was stunned by one postive indicator. 649 damaged homes had been razed in New Orleans that month, more homes than you find in one of the hundreds of thousands of small towns in the U.S. with populations of around 3000. We all have some connection to a town that size; we grew up there, our grandmother lived there, we passed through one on our way to the family cabin every summer, we went home from college with a roommate one week-end to her so sweet main street U.S.A. home town. Imagine that town completely flattened, gone. And we are just imagining the area of razed houses in one month, December.

According to the January report 4200 damaged homes have been razed since Katrina made land fall in August of 2005. Now you are talking about the disappearance of a town with a population of between 16,000 to 24,000.

Finally, when officials in the areas of the Gulf Coast touched by the Hurricanes of 2005 spoke publicly about their frustration that their situation was not addressed in this week's State of the Union, I heard another startling statistic. One governor said that 13,000 families, not individuals, families still do not have permanent housing as a result of the storms. The source is not as reliable as the Brookings Institute statistics. Still it gives you an image.

Multiply conservatively by an average family size of 4, we are talking about the population of a small city, over 50,000 people, half of those children. To put a personal reference on that number. In the mid-sixties, Pueblo was the second largest town, behind Denver, in my home state of Colorado with a population of around 50,000. I live in Santa Fe, the oldest city and the oldest government seat in the country, whose population only exceeded 50,000 in the last decade of the 20th century.

Time heals all wounds? Maybe the devastation of the Hurricanes of 2005 is fading from the memories of those of us who were not directly impacted. I doubt, however, that time helps families heal when they are still homeless. Let's not forget that there are approximately 50,000 people, 13,000 families, according to some estimates, without homes.

To support my favored fundraiser for Housing Relief for these families, go to www.BelleCora.com/I-Heard-it-on-Oprah.html. This is the website of my publishing group where we are distributing an inspirational journal to raise funds for housing relief. Many other businesses and organizations are dedicating profits from useful products to Hurricane Recovery. You can find them on the web. Or go to the sites below to learn more about helping and about resent recovery statistics.

http://www2.oprah.com/uyl/katrina/uyl_katrina_main.jhtml Oprah's Angel Network Housing for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Learn what and where building has and is taking place and how you can help.

www.habitat.org/local/ The official site of Habitat for Humanity.

www.habitat-nola.org/ The Habitat for Humanity site operating in New Orleans

http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/200512_katrinaindex.htm To see all the reports from the Brookings Institute on Hurricane Katrina, to learn more about the research work of the Institute or to receive their updates.

http://www.gnocdc.org/KI/ESKatrinaIndex.pdf - Executive Summary PDF of the Brookings January 2007 report on Katrina Recovery, as quoted in this blog.

Copyright © 2007 by Martie LaCasse