In what seems like eons ago, I did drug
prevention education workshops, rallies and class presentations, in the Chicago
Public School system.
For the teachers, classroom helpers and
principals, I performed workshops; for the body of the school, I would do
rallies. During many of those rallies, I would invite a tumbling team called
the “Jessie White Tumbling Team”. This team consisted of young men, whom one of
the state representatives named Jessie White, had formed.
This was a group of young people, who came
from one of the roughest parts of Chicago. Mr. White’s aim was to get these
young people off of the street; to give their life meaning. Therefore, he
taught these youth gymnastics.
During the rallies that I coordinated, I would
have the students do impromptu skits, share information about certain drugs and
their negative effects on the body and close out with the ‘tumblers’. It really
got the kids hyped up and eager to listen.
It was during that period in my career that I developed
what I called “drug prevention education raps”. I am attaching a link for you
to hear one of them. It would be later that I would develop the coloring books
associated with the raps.
We shall cover that part of the story, in the
next blog. In the meantime, click on the link and scroll to the middle of the page and enjoy - Choose
to Be.
http://bit.ly/2k1ddHH
More:
bit.ly/2k1ddHH
