Below is an article about Clowning Connections Project:
Clowning around helps unlock news
Emily-Ann Harbinson proudly steps forward to recieve an award on behalf of CLowning Connections, a student group that has been working with Alzheimer’s patients at Village by the Station.
Steve Kidd/Western News
A series of clowning workshops earlier this spring at Penticton Secondary School is already proving to have a great effect on the lives of some students and the Alzheimer’s patients they have been sharing their new skills with.
In March, Pen High vice-principal Sandra Richardson and Linda Beaven, a retired drama teacher from Summerland Secondary, recruited a professional clown to come train a selected group of 18 students — from both schools — in clown therapy.
“They worked with Holly (Adams, the workshop facilitator) over 20 hours, on their own time — Saturdays and after school — for a period of two weeks,” said RIchardson. “After that time they put together a clown show that they took to Village by the Station and put on for some of the residents there.”
The effect on some of the patients was profound. During the cabin visits, one student sat down with an Alzheimer’s patient, staying with him and having an hour-and-a-half conversation. It wasn’t until they were debriefing later that the rest home staff told them that the man had never spoken before.
“They’ve gone back and volunteered again and we’ve set up a nice relationship there, they look forward to the times that we come and share with these patients in their cabins,” said Richardson. “Being an educator, I value the effect this work has had on the patients, but I see the profound impact this has had on some of the students … 15 kids finished the program and it had an impact on all of them in various ways.”
“I connected to this one lady. She couldn’t really talk and I couldn’t understand her, so I sang to her the whole time,” said Emily-Ann Harrison, one of the Pen High students. “When it was time for me to go, she wouldn’t let go of my hand. Then they gave her ice cream and she let go.”
Harrison said just knowing that she connected with someone so quickly made her realize that she wanted to continue. And for Harrison, that was a huge step — a bigger one than for many of her fellow student clowns. She explained that she suffers from an extreme level of shyness.
“When I first came to this school, I wouldn’t talk to anybody. I had anxiety and I had my head down — I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror and I would starve myself because I wouldn’t eat in front of other people — it was that scary for me,” she said. Her teacher suggested she take part in the workshops but when Harrison found out it had to do with clowns, she got scared and wanted to pull out.
“I said I’m doing this one day and then I’m gone. But then I found myself keeping on going back. Just being around kids and smiling and having fun, just being someone I always wanted to be,” she said. “I kept on going back and got to go to the home — when I got there I was terrified, but just being there and being funny and making other people laugh told me I wanted to do this.”
From being too shy to eat in front of other people or even talk to them, Harrison made great progress. Last week, in a move that stunned even her teachers, she was centre stage at the SD67 Board of Education meeting, helping deliver a presentation on the work the clown group was doing. Richardson said they even offered to videotape Harrison’s part in the presentation, but the young student said she would rather do it in person. While Harrison’s progress isn’t all due to the clowning, Richardson said the experience interacting with both the other students and the patients accelerated her progress in overcoming her anxiety.
The Clowning Connections group is also getting some provincial recognition and financial aid. The B.C. Retired Teachers Association recently gave the group their Golden Star award for Student-Senior Interaction, which comes with a trophy and a $2,000 cash award, which Richardson said will be used to fund the next round of clown workshops.
“The plan is to bring her (Holly Adams) back in late September, early October and try to establish a routine where they go to Village by the Station on a regular basis next year,” she said.
