The Grasshopper and the Ant

By Suzzanne Pautler

The shining sun has dried up all the rain, well, most of the rain!  The streets were wet, but completely passable today.  The brightness of the sunshine matched the positive energy and love that welcomed us back to Jeho this morning.  After a few warm up activities, the older children went upstairs to continue working on their monologues, while I stayed inside with the younger children to work with the drama scripts.   

After enjoying each other's laughter and smiles while we highlighted our lines, we put away the markers and got to work. We are performing Aesop’s fable “The Grasshopper and the Ant,” and even though Necessary Arts hasn’t worked with the children for five days, they still remember all of their memorized lines!  I suppose their great success with this activity is that they study under an educational system which supports rote learning.  Likewise, the students are fantastic at choral reading, which is probably a common classroom task.  The morale of the fable is that we must help out our friends by working together.  The morale spoke to these children as it seems to be a life motto they grasp and live by.  

After two hours, the older and younger groups united, and we shared with them seedless dates from Dubai. They had never tasted dates before. I was pleasantly surprised that every date was eaten!  We then welcomed the children to perform their many talents for us on stage.  Since today is December 22, several Christmas carols were shared, including Feliz Navidad, as were various other songs and dances.  The children have no hesitation, nor feel any embarrassment to perform.  Their self-confidence is bountiful, as is their passion for life.  Necessary Arts always enjoys returning to Jeho, as we empower the students to realize their full potential. They are becoming confident, productive, and innovative contributors to society.