A resounding chorus of frog song and wolf calls to the many individuals who made the Children’s Forest first school tour a huge success – Ashe & Sabina for vision & fruition, Meinsje & Connie for puppetry expertise & theatre direction, Mary & Sarah for organization support, AND especially to the ten outstanding youth who diligently rehearsed and carried the story of the Children’s Forest to Saltspring Island!!!
The Children’s Forest tribe took their puppet extravaganza and forest rap to six schools on Saltspring, March 2-5, 2015 and performed for over 5oo students in total. The troupe visited Saltspring Centre School, Fulford Elementary, Saltspring Island Middle School, Fernwood Elementary, Phoenix School, and Saltspring Elementary School. Each school offered a unique setting, audience, and opportunity for theatrical learning, and was gifted a copy of the book, ‘Forest Alphabet’ for their school library. Following each performance, the Forest Alphabet youth chatted with school students, showing their puppetry skills, and cultivating a network of youth speaking out for the natural world.
The Cortes youth explored some of Saltspring’s lovely beaches and parks, and had the amazing opportunity to visit Robert Bateman in his home and studio. Robert Bateman has been a long-time supporter of the Children’s Forest – he contributed a written dedication to ‘Forest Alphabet’, took a group of artists into the Children’s Forest, and gifted a piece of art to the Artist’s Journey art auction.
Please read a full account of the tour in the Youth Initiatives section, written by Alma, budding writer and co-star in the Children’s Forest promotional video of 4 years ago.