Friday, September 29, 2006

we are the future


The school year has started and I had my first gig for a high school earlier this month. I was just going over my agency required "outcome measures" (feedback forms) and I wanted to share.

This was a ninth grade so most of the students were fourteen. We did five gigs that day - only about a half-hour each with groups of twenty to thirty. If you have ever done youth ed., you know you can't expect to accomplish too damn much in that amount of time, in that amount of chaos, with that large a group of students (who are in their orientation and don't even know or trust each other/their teachers yet - let alone you).

So, here is my standard gig:

blah, blah - me (i.e. intro)
list "healthy/unhealthy" relationship stuff on flipchart (they tell me)
go over teen power and control wheel (if I feel like it)
wrap a kid in tape.

Okay. Now you have a question. What this means is that I wrap at kid in masking tape while the others give examples of unhealthy/power and control tactics. Kid processes how it feels to be restricted in said manner. More blah, blah. Then I unwrap tape while others give examples of "how to help" a friend in an unhealthy relationship.

give candy-type bribe
issue feedback forms.

So here are some of my fave "outcome measure":

1) Mis-spells name of his school and says to "things to look for in a good, healthy relationship": "hotgirl." For "any suggestions for improving future healthy relationship presentations": "look for a hottopgirl."

hmmm. Is this in reference to breasts or asphalt?

2) One has good content, I think. He says healthy is "being able to talt to you partner about probems."

3) "Talk into partner" (astral projection?)

4) "not bosyness"

5) "Yes, don't abbuse stuff."


And my favorite is a typed letter that the guidance director clearly copied and then sent (to me and similar ones to other presenters) saying:

Dear ms. Linder;

I am a freshman at (school name). Thank you for participating in our Freshman Awareness program last week.

It gave me a nice relief of not having to be in classes all day, and I got to watch you wrap some students in tape. I liked that your class wasn't so serious and that we could have some fun. I rated your presentation the highest rate.

Thank you again for taking the time to tell us about your organaization.

(name)

Yay, me! Saving the world, one little shit at a time. ;)

1 comment:

Gwen said...

At least they were honest about liking your presentation because it got them out of class! One presentation down, how many more to go?

Gwen