Inhale confidence, exhale doubt!

One of the most rewarding elements of being a drama teacher is watching your students grow from strength to strength. Through attending drama lessons students learn to believe in themselves and their ability to perform, to speak, present, create and lead. So when many parents enquire as to what's the point of drama - I can say with confidence that there are too many benefits-I've seen individuals transform over the 8 years i have been apart of the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy.... Whether a child's from Durban or Gauteng :)

Where is the LOVE???

Valentines Day - a day filled with hearts, love letters, chocolates and loads of giggles! As an adult Valentines is a fun occasion to celebrate our love for our families and partners; for me its quite a nostalgic day and I bet I am not the only one of us who always looks back to my very first VALENTINES DAY and my very first heart-shaped card I received at age 8! My memories of those childhood crushes came flooding back to me when I visited our Greenside Kindy class - the excitement was brilliant and the kids came rushing up to me to show off their choccies and heart-shaped cards. Isn't it fantastic that we can celebrate a day that is completely about LOVE - what a wonderful lesson to teach our children how to appreciate one another as well as themselves!

When I visited our Blairgowrie Class I decided to take the theme further and I engaged in conversations with the children about who got Valentines gifts and who gave out...I was so pleased when one little boy was brave enough to claim that he confidently gave someone a Valentines and he was not one little bit embarrassed to admit it! What a bold young chap; he's been attending our Academy for over 4 years and I was so happy that we had developed such a safe environment in the classroom that he felt comfortable enough to share. The other students giggled at his courage but it was wonderful to see there was no mocking or laughing at him - there was support and a sense of unity, a sense of 'good on you for being so confident'!!! So when I ask myself 'WHERE IS THE LOVE?' - I am proud to announce -  in all our Helen O'Grady Drama lessons where everyone is there to care, share, develop, create and have a whole lot of FUN xxx Hope you all had a good Valentines xxx