Kids at Centre Stage

Pamela Blanchfield's determination to make the most of every community resource has led to some innovative and exciting learning opportunities for the children at the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara in Niagara Falls. Among them is a popular after-school arts program sponsored by the Shaw Festival and the Royal Bank.

A team of actors and stagehands from the Shaw Festival visits the Boys and Girls Club every year to lead three workshops for three age groups (4-6, 7-9 and 10-12), for a total of nine sessions. Wigs and Makeup shows children the basics of costuming and makeup, and transforms the children into any number of wonderful characters. Stage Movement teaches the participants the basics of moving around a stage and how stage falls, fights and mayhem are carefully choreographed to avoid injury. The Theatre course provides a basic acting lesson. The children then travel to the Shaw Festival to see a play.

Blanchfield says that exposure to the arts builds confidence and self-esteem. "We have a karaoke machine at the Boys and Girls Club," she delightedly explains. "The little kids just love it! They are not self-conscious at all. Singing along with the machine gives them a tremendous feeling of success." And she's quite sure that this early confidence and stage experience benefit the children throughout their lives.