Learning wellness through theater

This week during Wellness block, our Middle School students were treated to a special guest to help with this week’s lesson. The Taproot Theater Touring group presented a play for the Middle Schoolers called, Story of an Off-Brand Band. The play follows the story of a touring band where the guitarist is treated differently than the rest of the group. The band has a choice to make to figure out how they can all show appreciation for each other and recognize that they are singling out and excluding one of their fellow band members. 

The show is an illustration showing what bullying and exclusion might look like and illustrates how we can’t thrive as a group if all our members are not being treated with respect. The show utilizes an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream speech” that you can read more about here.

After the play, the actors led a brief group discussion on what lessons might be learned from the play. However, the students will continue the conversation in their homerooms in subsequent days to talk about what they observed during the play and what they might learn and take from it going forward.