POINT PLEASANT — On Monday afternoon and evening, third and fourth graders at Roosevelt Elementary School presented their “jungle stories” to their family and friends.
Joseph Wright, executive director of the French Art Colony in Gallipolis, Ohio, has been working with these students to prepare five short plays, or “jungle stories,” in order to help bring the arts to Mason County Schools. Over a couple of weeks, Wright has assisted the third graders in writing these stories, and helped prepare the fourth graders to perform them on stage. Some of the stories included subjects like how the tiger got his stripes, and how monkeys came to love bananas.
Wright reported he works with several area schools, in order to help expose students to the arts. He added that Mason County schools are limited when it comes to their ability to be involved in the arts. According to Robin Carter, principal of Roosevelt Elementary, the arts are very important for schools and it also something that Superintendent Suzanne Dickens is working to improve on as well. Carter added that writing has been a major focus this year in schools, but they currently do not have a visual or performing arts teacher. She said this was the perfect opportunity to partner with the French Art Colony and start having more programs like this. At the moment, the program only included third and fourth graders, but both Carter and Wright hope to expand it to other grade levels in the future.
“I was pleased,” Wright said about the afternoon performance. He also stated he wanted to get some feedback from the third grade writers and ask how it felt to see their work actually performed on stage in front of their family and friends.
This program was also a great opportunity to get parents involved as well. It was reported that several parents helped create the animal masks worn by the fourth graders, as well as the scenery for the plays themselves. Wright also added that the teachers were also important members of the teams who worked on this program.
Wright has been working for many years with area students in order to improve the arts on both sides of the Ohio River. Before coming to the French Art Colony, he worked with an organization called “The Imagination Factory,” and has served in many areas of performing arts.
The next program with the French Art Colony will be a performance called “Mr. Toad’s Mad Adventures.” For more information on this program, or the French Art Colony, visit www.frenchartcolony.org.
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