POMONA – Mallory Fehrensen, 20, has fond memories of a woman who taught her elementary-school class to “just say no.”
Fehrensen, who studies theater in education and community at Cal Poly Pomona, was so inspired by the person she calls “the tobacco lady” that she decided to base her senior project on the woman’s teachings.
“I decided to create a program that uses theater to educate children,” Fehrensen said.
She is the founder and director of Theatre Educating Children About Realistic Experiences, also called The CARE.
“The CARE is a preventative program that gives children a community to take part in that doesn’t involve violence or drug abuse,” she said.
The program works with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at the Success Through Awareness and Resistance day camp in La Puente. The group meets with fourth- through sixth-grade students Thursday mornings, using theater to teach them how to deal with everyday experiences.
“What we’re trying to do is educate children about drug prevention,” Fehrensen said.
On their first day with the elementary-school students, the theater group performed a scene that dealt with tobacco, alcohol and inhalants.
The 50 elementary-school students were divided into four groups, and each group was led by one or two members of the theater group.
“At the end of the month, the four groups of students will have created a piece of art,” Fehrensen said.
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The performance will take place Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. at Cal Poly Pomona’s Studio Theatre.
The scenes that will be performed were written by the theater group with help from the elementary-school students. The performance will incorporate everything from singing and acting to rap and breakdancing.
“One of my students from The CARE is making a documentary (about working with the students) and we will probably show that if the students cannot perform,” Fehrensen said.
The six members of The CARE all came from the Peer Theatre class at Cal Poly, which Fehrensen has been a part of for the past two years.
“The Peer Theatre class collaborates with the Pomona Unified School District to create controversial plays for high-school students,” Fehrensen said.
Article Originally Published by Inland Valley Daily Bulletin on 07/22/2008 08:35:16 PM
Author: Danielle Mohlman, Correspondent
