Student-written plays engage Juneau community on addiction, climate change
Students at Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi High School and Juneau Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé wrote four plays earlier this year centered on deeply personal topics. They were performed live on the radio in February, and again this week.
Theater Alaska hosted the performance Thursday at Thunder Mountain Middle School. It was followed by a forum with teachers, mental health professionals and policy makers that gave community members the opportunity to discuss the topics brought up by the plays, including addiction, climate change and consolidating the city’s two high schools.
National Alliance on Mental Illness Juneau is a local non-profit that provides mental health education. Executive Director Aaron Surma said the lack of resources locally means they work with students to help them support one another.
“Feeling comfortable supporting your friend always makes sense. But saying that we – people who make the worlds – are just not going to have good enough systems for you to make it be helpful is a pretty tragic thing,” Surma said.
Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi teacher Electra Gardinier said the opportunity to write radio plays helped students engage with writing in a new way.
“I, as a teacher, saw students who had never interacted with one another in a positive way suddenly be able to take on a character and interact as these characters in a really healthy and communicative way, and then also to make writing collaborative,” Gardinier said.
The performances come as schools and arts organizations face funding uncertainties in Juneau and across the state and country.
Thursday’s program wrapped up hours after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill that would increase the state’s per-student allocation by $1000. The Trump administration is also slashing grant funding for humanities organizations.
Still, Theater Alaska’s Artistic Director Flordelino Lagundino said they hope to continue working in local schools and expand the program next year.
Disclaimer: KTOO was a partner in the radio play performances, but the KTOO newsroom took no part in organizing the event.