When TJ Smiled

by Ondrea Goranson

“When you stand or act in front of a crowd, it’s normal to get butterflies.” I told the students, when indeed I had a few winged creatures fluttering in my stomach at the moment. I was particularly nervous about TJ, a 7^th grade student who had never been to Dramashop. Earlier that afternoon, during a very serious game of SORRY!®, I asked TJ if he was excited for Dramashop. His response was less than enthusiastic, in fact, he answered with a long, low groan. I repeated the question and he mumbled an undecipherable, halfhearted response. I wasn’t offended, because TJ didn’t get excited about a lot of things. I knew getting him “pumped up” was going to be a challenge.

As I introduced the warm-up tongue twister in class, TJ hesitated. I emphasized the importance of clarity, as well as volume in this exercise. While we rolled through the tongue twisters, I couldn’t hear his voice, but I was encouraged by the movement of his lips and look of determination of this face. At the end of our warm up I was thrilled to see TJ raise his hand and volunteer to repeat the tongue twister for our class.

During our final drama activity, a high energy game of hand and vocal performance, I saw a side of TJ I’d never seen before. Quite hesitant at first, TJ made sure he understood the specific rules and methods to the game. I knew he was a board game lover, very smart and strategic. And he certainly didn’t pretend to be a dramatic, socialite. To my delight, after he had the logistics down, TJ was a willing participant. Despite my apprehensions, he got excited about the game and several teachers spotted a rare smile spread across his face. He seemed to truly be enjoying himself. That smile made my day, and the simple knowledge that TJ relaxed and had a good time affirmed my belief that God is working through drama at the Impact Learning Center.