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Stories From the Field
 MCC's
YouthReach Initiative promotes out-of-school arts, humanities and
science opportunities that nurture the spirit of creative inquiry
in young people at risk.
The following are examples of how these programs have changed the
lives of participating youth. Unless indicated otherwise, names
have been changed for the purposes of confidentiality.
- Jerome Spratling (real name; pictured,
far left) first came to Barrington Stage Company in 2006.
Then a student at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Jerome auditioned
for the company’s Youth Theatre production and landed his first
role on stage. Jerome had encountered a rough patch both at home
and in school, and the theater offered a welcome release. He excelled
at acting and quickly became familiar with many different aspects
of production, both on stage and behind the scenes.
During his junior year, Jerome came back to the theater in
a different capacity. Continued problems at school landed Jerome
in Pittsfield’s Juvenile Resource Center (JRC) program, an alternative
to out-of-school suspension. Together with the JRC and Taconic
High School, theater staff worked to help Jerome receive high
school credits through his participation in the Youth Theatre
production of High School Musical. His enthusiasm,
talent and growing knowledge of production gained him a role
in the cast and a position as Assistant Choreographer, which
he took up enthusiastically. The following year, Jerome returned
again to Barrington Stage’s YouthReach-funded program. Through
the program, Jerome’s self-esteem, confidence and leadership
skills grew. At the end-of-season performance, he delivered
a powerful, personal monologue. That summer, Jerome graduated
from high school.
When
Jerome returned this year to audition and then star as Tom Robinson
in To Kill a Mockingbird, his confidence and talent won hearts
again.
Jerome’s success also brings the work of Barrington Stage full
circle: He now works as a Peer Mentor in the Pittsfield-based,
court-mandated Playwright Mentoring Project, also funded through
YouthReach—giving support to other at-risk youth.
- Lisa, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic,
is a high school student living in Jamaica Plain. Her introduction
to dance was in her afterschool program in 5th grade, where she
was taught by teens from a YouthReach-funded program. Lisa herself
has been a dancer in the YouthReach program for the past three
years and is now teaching in the middle school program.
Over the past
year, Lisa has lost six friends and family members to street violence,
the most recent being a nine-year-old cousin who was shot in the
head. Lisa says of her YouthReach-funded program, “Dancing has
helped me release the anger within me. When I enter the studio,
I feel the positive and safe environment. Dancing lets me express
myself emotionally and physically. Dancing is my therapy, and
music is how I can step away from all the issues I am facing…”
Her YouthReach program staff are now helping her with the college
application process. Lisa wants to study social work and return
to the community as a youth worker.
Read More
YouthReach is a part of the MCC's Creative
Minds Initiative.
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Massachusetts Cultural Council 2010 |
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