Ava Miller-St. Nicholaas uses a marker to sketch a costume design for her class's latest theatrical epic, Scaredy Squirrel Eats a Banana.
"Scaredy Squirrel gets stung by a jellyfish," she explains, but is rescued by the kids from the Chronicles of Narnia and a passing shark. After a quick trip to the hospital, he eats a banana.
Miller-St. Nicholaas, a Grade 2 student from Muriel Martin, played the part of Narnia's Lucy Pevensie during the rehearsal moments earlier in the basement of the Jubilee Auditorium.
She and the rest of her class took classes at the playhouse last week as part of an immersive education program called Jube School.
"It's kind of awesome, because it's really easy and sometimes a bit hard, but it's actually a lot of fun," Miller-St. Nicholaas says.
About 40 Muriel Martin students attended Jube School at the Jubilee Auditorium last week. Part of the Inquiring Minds partnership, it's one of about 13 site-based schools in the Edmonton region that give kids a chance to get an in-depth look at local institutions, such as Rexall Place (the ICE School), the Alberta Legislature, and the Valley Zoo.
Instead of bringing one expert to the classroom for one day, these programs bring the students to the experts, explains Muriel Martin teacher Sarah Josey, who has previously brought classes to the Museum School at the Royal Alberta Museum.
"The kids can go to a venue and they have access to areas nobody else has access to, and they learn from professionals that work right in the building," she says.
"It's a massive immersion into the venue and what it has to offer, and that's not something you can do in the classroom."
School on stage
The Muriel Martin students spent last week painting masks, designing costumes, and appreciating art. Along the way, they practised their math skills, learned about lighting and history, and got a backstage tour of the auditorium.
Jube School gives students real life experiences they can't get in the classroom, says Muriel Martin teacher Kylie Palfy. They went on an art walk in the building to learn about perspective and illustration, learned about the LRT, and practised estimation by counting all the steps in the building – there were 196, if you were wondering.
Along the way, the students learned about math, history and culture, and saw that they could have careers in the arts.
"They're learning, and they don't even know they're learning, and that's amazing."
Instructor Laura Raboud coached the students through their performance of Scaredy Squirrel, teaching them basic stage directions and how to portray scenes in tableau.
Drama lessons can help teachers spot issues with group dynamics and illustrate concepts through action, Raboud says, when asked how the arts can help in school. Kids with autism seem to take particularly well to it.
"They're thinking with their bodies and not just with their brains."
The arts fit into every part of education, especially in the younger grades, Josey says. You can use drama to re-enact a piece of history from social studies, arts and crafts to illustrate a scientific principle, and songs to teach French.
"You can't just catch the kids in one way," she continues – if you just read something, you might not necessarily get it.
Miller-St. Nicholaas says she's learned a lot about dancing and ballet at the Jubilee, and prefers taking lessons here to regular school. It's going to be a bit weird going back to regular classes, she adds.
"I want to be an artist when I grow up."
Josey says she hopes that the school will give students an unforgettable experience.
"Years from now, they're going to be able to say, we were down in the basement of the Jubilee, and we were in the auditorium when no one was there."
Visit ourinquiringminds.wordpress.com for details on this and other school programs.
