LHS theatre arts program produces CD

Nine students enrolled in the Laconia High School Theatre Arts Program recently finished “Viewpoints”, a year-long collaborative CD project with the Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families. Viewpoints is a collection of anonymous personal statements gathered from teens in and around New Hampshire who have experienced recovery from alcohol addiction, either in their families or in their own lives. These statements were then recorded by selected LHS drama students.

The participating students were coached by LHS Drama Director, Joy Armstrong, in how to use just the voice in presenting these stories to listeners. When the teens were ready, they recorded their messages in the Nassau Broadcasting Studios in Gilford, where staff added a bed of background music and ran them as Public Service Announcements during National Alcohol and Drug Addictions Recovery Month in September 2005.

Later in the school year, one of the nine students, graduating senior Alicia Hammond, worked with the Citizens Council to write an introduction and narration for the CD from the perspective of a teen. After rehearsing with Joy Armstrong, Alicia recorded this narration at the WEZS Radio Studio in Laconia. Alicia’s comments offer listeners useful information on substance abuse and the process of recovery and set in context each of the nine anonymous statements. Station owner Gary Hammond, Alicia’s father, compiled her narration and the nine previously recorded anonymous statements into the Viewpoints CD.

The concept for the art work and graphics for the CD were generated by the nine students. They suggested that the front cover of the CD be a photo of them together in a group and that the back cover be a mirror image of this photo but with their backs to the camera. These images help to establish that from a teen’s point of view there are many ways to understand addictions and the process of recovery.

Copies of the Viewpoints CD have been distributed throughout the Lakes Region, New Hampshire, and through the Reclaiming Futures networks. Copies are still available from the Citizens Council.

Says Joy Armstrong, “This project brought us an opportunity to learn more about the craft of acting, especially how to use just one element, the voice. Viewpoints was a great match for us.”

LHS Principal, Jon Freeman, agrees. “We welcome projects of this nature especially when they are tied to learning goals and provide students with community service options.”

The Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families is a County department — “the only one of its kind in New Hampshire” notes Judith Buswell, Council Planning and Research Coordinator and the Viewpoints coordinator. “The Council is always searching for activities like this that share resources and help us to promote the principles of Community Justice in Belknap County. If just one listener is convinced that recovery from addictions is completely possible and then takes the necessary steps away from this problem, all our efforts are well worth it!”

Viewpoints participants include seniors Hammond and Nerissa Bodwell; Craig McKeon, a junior; and six sophomores, Abbie Morin, Charles Dockham, Judy Hsiang, Katie Ashley, Kevin Divers, and Teagan Morin. These nine students, Joy Armstrong, Jon Freeman, and Alan Robichaud, Executive Director of the Citizens Council, were recently recognized by the Laconia School Board for this community-school project.

(CAPTION) Laconia High School students who participated in the Viewpoints CD project with the Belknap County Citizens Council on Children and Families are shown as they appear on the front and back covers of the Viewpoints CD; Front view: (L-R) Katie Ashley, Alicia Hammond, Charles Dockham, Nerissa Bodwell, Kevin Divers, Abby Morin, Craig McKeon, and Judy Hsiang. Missing when the photo was taken is Teagan Morin.