By Savannah Vasquez, The Destin Log<\/p>\n
Seven robots marched around the library at Destin Elementary School last Thursday. The robots then morphed into floppy rag-dolls then very tall giraffes before changing back into their original form of kindergarten to fourth grade children.<\/p>\n
The event was Drama Kids International, a weekly after-school program that uses theater to encourage creativity, confidence and critical thinking in children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really, really love drama a lot,\u201d said program director Alissa Clifton when asked what got her interested in the program. \u201cI think it\u2019s the best job ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clifton actually runs the program in nine Okaloosa county Schools and said each group works on short dramas with the end goal of putting on a performance for the parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe start out each class with creative improvisation exercises, then vocal warm-ups,\u201d she said. \u201cThe goal is by the time we do a parent presentation at the end of the semester, students will be able to welcome them to the program and introduce themselves and what is going on. In the spring we will be putting on a short play for family and friends with each student having similar sized parts so that every child can shine.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Destin\u2019s program, the kids had fun playing interactive games that kept them thinking on their feet, then made up their own skit using a story prompt before finishing the day with a song.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doing something similar to writing prompts they usin in school, except with no writing,\u201d said Clifton. \u201cWe give them a beginning and ask them to come up with a middle and end, and the kids are having so much fun they don\u2019t even notice.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Savannah Vasquez, The Destin Log Seven robots marched around the library at Destin Elementary School last Thursday. The robots then morphed into floppy rag-dolls then very tall giraffes before changing back into their original form of kindergarten to fourth grade children. The event was Drama Kids International, a weekly after-school program that uses theater to encourage creativity, confidence and critical thinking in children. \u201cI really, really love drama a lot,\u201d said program director Alissa Clifton when asked what got her interested in the program. \u201cI think it\u2019s the best job ever.\u201d Clifton actually runs the program in nine Okaloosa county Schools and said each group works on short dramas with the end goal of putting on a performance for the parents. \u201cWe start out each class with creative improvisation exercises, then vocal warm-ups,\u201d she said. \u201cThe goal is by the time we do a parent presentation at the end of the semester, students will be able to welcome them to the program and introduce themselves and what is going on. In the spring we will be putting on a short play for family and friends with each student having similar sized parts so that every child can shine.\u201d At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1376853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1376393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n