A number of theatrical exercises and activities were brought to Estevan schools the past two weeks, courtesy of the Souris Valley Theatre and their summer intern/employee Josh Pele who will be entering his third year of theatre education at the University of Northern Colorado next fall.
Pele, a well-known actor/vocalist said the school visits were arranged to not only awaken the inner thespian talents among the students, but to raise awareness of the local theatre鈥檚 summer drama camp programs.
鈥淓ach camp has a dozen students. We had three of them last year and we鈥檝e bumped it up to four camps this year, and they鈥檙e filling up pretty fast,鈥� said Pele just prior to the start of a working session with Grade 7 and 8 students at Hillcrest School on June 3.
The summer camps begin on July 6.
The day-long programs in the schools, saw Pele work with students in developing their observational and sensory skills while doing a lot of pantomime and narratives, as the students walked through an imaginary village and ultimately determine Goldilock鈥檚 fate in her association with the three bears.
Pele said he looked forward, in particular, to his Hillcrest visit, since that was the school he attended up to his Grade 8 graduation which meant he remembered several of the students who were in kindergarten (or Grade 1 or 2) when he was a senior.
鈥淭hey were just little faces in the crowd then, and now they鈥檙e the senior students,鈥� he said with a grin.
It鈥檚 activities like those brought to the school by Pele which appealed to the young teens who embraced the opportunity to drop some regular classroom routines for a day to get engaged in the lighter side of drama. 聽
