To the Forum:Much has been discussed as to the plight of today’s teenagers. Lately we have been successful in staging several dances that target the 13 to 18 year old in a safe, drug and alcohol free environment. At every
To the Forum:Much has been discussed as to the plight of today’s
teenagers. Lately we have been successful in staging several dances that target
the 13 to 18 year old in a safe, drug and alcohol free environment. At every
event, the kids have approached the adults to thank us.
We have decided to
hold a teen dance at Whalers Brew Pub once a month. Our last dance was held on
Saturday, May 6.
Anyone who attends these dances will be able to see for
themselves that with a group of 400 to 600 teenagers, they are there to have
fun and follow the rules. If there are a couple of problems with abuse of the
rules, those teens are removed.
Besides the adult chaperones, there are
plain-clothes police security, and onsite security people. We are happy to say
that we have only had a few rotten apples and we will not be letting them spoil
the events.
Future dances are scheduled for Friday, June 9, and June 30,
and possibly an additional one in May.
These dances have been a benefit for
Hawai’i Children’s Theater. Our organization is a theater and a school. We have
been providing theater education programs on Kaua’i since 1996.
Some of
our larger productions in that time include, Charlotte’s Web, Oliver, The King
and I, Scrooge and Blood Brothers. In addition we have done many smaller
productions and we are planning for fall classes for the production of The
Sound of Music.
In 1998 we were selected to represent the state and the US
as performers at the World’s Fair in Portugal. Now we have been invited again
for this summer’s World’s Fair, which will be held in Hanover, Germany.
Twenty Kaua’i teens ages 12 to 16 were selected earlier this year and we will
be performing for the Kaua’i public in June and leaving for Europe to perform
in early July. This is an incredible opportunity for these kids and we will be
having many fundraisers in support of their trip, our continuing program
operations for the summer and the scholarship fund for the fall program.
Please support these events when you see them publicized. We would like to
thank Graeme Merrin of Whalers Brew Pub for his wonderful continued support of
the teen dances, as well as all the volunteers and contributors who have in the
past and will in the future help with these events.
Debra Blachowiak,
President
Board of Directors of Hawai’i Children’s Theatre
